The transfer season is now over, finito, done, dusted, in the history books. In the final day we managed to seal one more deal which saw one rider join the team and one rider leave. A full squad presentation will be given at a later date, but for now we'll introduce our 22nd and final rider.

Dusan Kalaba



A 24-year old sprinter from Serbia, Dusan Kalaba comes from ProTour team Isostar - Specialized and will earn 145.000 bananas. He will be our secondary sprinter beside Vesely but there are plenty of racedays for the two to be separated. A special mention for his prologue ability which is quite good, and he might be useful in a TTT as well.

---

A rider had to go in the opposite direction to make this move work. It is Jay Major who will ride for Isostar in the ProTour next season, and 550.000 bananas flew to Slovenia as well. As Jay is the first rider to complete the Minion academy from start to finish, it leaves us with tears in our eyes to see him go, but we wish him all the best at his new employer and in the remainder of his long career!

22 Minions are ready to tackle the 2020 season and win every race! Well, we might leave a few wins for other teams, but know you only won because we let you win. Who are these superstars? Please welcome them to the stage:

Rigoberto Uran

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
71	81	73	77	74	80	75	54	54	70	66	61	77	4.100	6	33

Still our undisputed leader despite his legs starting to go off, Rigoberto will still be a force to be reckoned with in the mountains. The competition in the division is strong but with some smart planning we try to squeeze every point out of him one more time.

Daniel Vesely

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
73	60	68	57	74	68	76	57	81	80	61	71	57	4.100	6	28

A new face, Daniel is our answer to our sprinting problems from the past few seasons. Vantomme and Drapac are gone, but we get someone in return who has shown to sprint at higher levels and is still relatively young, meaning we have someone we can build on for the next season.

Dimitri Claeys

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
72	66	82	63	72	66	67	63	66	71	61	62	63	4.100	5	33

Dimitri started off last season with two wins but then dropped off a bit. If he can perform the entire season like he did in the beginning, he'll bring in a lot of points. Time trials are his kryptonite, but our planner took this into account this season.

Ruben Zepuntke

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
72	55	69	65	79	72	64	81	72	65	66	68	65	4.100	7	27

Our cobbles leader returns for the third season. Ruben will ride as many cobblestone races as possible, excluding clashes, but this type of profile is getting rarer. He has to take the chances he has.

Dusan Kalaba

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
74	65	69	70	70	72	76	57	79	79	58	68	78	4.100	4	24

In exchange for Major, Dusan will co-lead the sprints with Vesely. He will mostly be used in stage races with a decent amount of flat stages, and in prologues. He is also eligible for the young rider classification, hopefully bringing some extra points.

Chad Haga

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
70	75	72	76	73	70	72	57	64	67	70	71	77	4.100	5	32

One of the three riders to have been with us since the beginning, Chad is someone on who we can count in the mountains, hills and time trials. His main battleground will be stage races which contain all three, and might be a GC underdog in some of them.

Reinhardt Janse van Rensburg

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
70	69	68	78	71	71	69	63	60	76	67	64	78	4.100	4	31

Despite interest from an African continental team, Reinhardt sticks with us for another season. As the deal with Coppel fell through, he is our best time trialist and we expect a lot from him. He is also the head of our improved team time trial squad.

Borislav Ivanov

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
69	76	74	63	72	75	75	50	58	68	77	69	63	4.100	4	31

Uran's main helper in the mountains, Borislav is also ready to get his head in the King of the Mountains fights. He will also be used in the hills as domestique due to a shortage of specialists there.

Bjorn Selander

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
71	68	76	63	74	71	70	63	70	76	71	61	63	4.100	5	32

Bjorn has been under contract for seven years now and raced for us in six of those. He is Claeys' main helper in the hills but also has a few opportunities for his own chances. We look forward to some nice attacks from him.

Bert-Jan Lindeman

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
73	55	64	60	72	69	66	76	74	76	64	61	60	4.100	3	31

The secondary cobblestone leader is Bert-Jan, who will help Zepuntke in his endeavors but also receives leadership in a select few C2 races. He is also part of the sprint train wherever applicable, a busy schedule for the Dutchman this year.

Chris Barton

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
65	73	65	75	71	73	73	61	59	66	68	74	75	4.100	4	32

Chris is one of those riders who has no problem helping the leaders, we will utilize his services in mountain races and (team) time trials. It is also his jubilee as this is his fifth season.

Leandro Marcos

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
74	62	73	63	71	65	70	74	65	70	73	64	65	4.100	3	29

Also entering his fifth season, Leandro is a valued member of the cobblestone squad, a valued domestique for hilly races and all around a nice fella.

Alvaro Hodeg

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
70	53	65	67	68	72	69	51	77	76	53	64	71	4.57	5	24
72	53	65	67	69	74	70	51	79	78	53	64	73	4.100*	5	25

A talented youngster judging his Avenir stage win last season, Alvaro moves up to the final locomotive for either Vesely or Kalaba. Next season, he should be ready to take his own chances and become the second rider after Major to complete the full Minion academy.

Yasmani Martinez

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
68	75	71	72	71	69	74	50	66	73	74	61	72	4.100	5	33

Yasmani is no longer the team leader he once was, but we are glad he accepted a role as road captain. Still able to shine in his Cuban jersey, we will see him everywhere the road goes up or the clock is ticking.

Niels Albert

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
72	61	66	54	71	69	67	75	60	63	76	80	54	4.100	5	34

Also accepting the road captain position is Niels, but he will do so in the flat and cobblestone races. Last year he was able to pull off some surprising results, and nothing suggests he cannot do so this year as well.

Szymon Rekita

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
71	56	61	77	68	71	71	62	69	69	62	73	76	4.12	7	26
73	56	62	79	70	73	73	62	71	70	62	73	78	4.100*	7	28

From Netia to us, the position of Szymon does not change. He is expected to reach his full potential in two years, but until then he is a valuable asset for team time trials and time trials in general.

Andzs Flaksis

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
70	53	65	56	75	70	66	76	61	62	70	72	56	4.100	4	32

Andzs likes cobblestones but not much else. That's fine, there are plenty of races where he is in his element.

Vojtech Hacecky

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
73	52	62	76	63	72	66	55	70	74	58	57	75	4.100	4	33

Vojtech didn't want to go to Africa so he is here. Time trials is his specialty, as many riders in this team he will try to ride as many of them as possible.

Laureano Rosas

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
72	59	65	75	72	70	73	51	70	74	55	61	76	4.100	3	30

Argentinian time trial champion Laureano is another time trialist on our payroll. He will also be used to carry bottles in other races to give him the race days we pay him for, and a breakaway here and there is always nice.

Tareq Esmaeli

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
63	71	69	56	65	73	69	65	61	67	71	73	56	4.100	4	33

What would this team be without the banana loving Qatari, the only rider to continuously ride in our colors since our first season in 2014. Tareq has realised that he is dead weight in important races, and has requested to only be selected in C2 races, his home race in Qatar and where race clashes force us.

Clement Champoussin

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
67	70	69	60	72	71	70	57	59	69	65	71	61	1.0	6	22

Clement is legally not ours but eBuddy's, but he is here as a guest. We will give him the true Minion experience which will advance him in his career, which will no doubt lead to great things.

Mikkel Bjerg

FL	MO	HL	TT	STA	RES	REC	COB	SP	ACC	FTR	DH	PRL	XP	Pot	Age
68	61	63	69	66	69	66	63	66	67	67	66	69	1.0	7	22
76	64	67	79	73	78	73	63	66	67	74	67	79	4.100*	7	25

This talent is ours. Mikkel is a future time trial star but at this point in his career his is too inexperienced to find his way to the top of the timing sheets. We will send him to as much races as possible to let him gain experience, give him a few years and everyone will know his name!

* = not guaranteed to be actual stats

Our jersey has been the same for the past three seasons, hence we thought it was time for a little update. We listened to concerns from the riders and listened to color experts (what a shitty expertise to have). We have updated our main jersey but also gone for a new NC style.



In terms of style, the new jersey is almost identical to the previous one with the Minions only given an overall. Notice how the colors are slightly changed with the main color changing from "banana yellow" (#ffbc4f) to "Minion yellow" (#ffd55e). Yes, Minion yellow is an actual color in the Pantone catalog. As for the overall, to further add to our Pantone sponsorship, the color is changed from denim (#1e6a9f) to Pantone's Color of the Year 2020 (seriously): Classic Blue (#34558b).

One of the concerns from the riders is the fact most of their stomach was exposed in the previous jersey, this has been fixed by raising the front and back part of the overall to arm pit height. We also slightly changed the suspenders such that they fit over the shoulders better. Finally, we removed the logo of an old employer which has been lingering around for ages.





The jerseys for the national champions have received a major update. Previously, we had to apply bodypaint in the colors of their national flag while still maintaining the blue overalls. This was not only time consuming as it had to be reapplied each day, but in rainy days the paint would wash away and all that would be left was pale white. Something had to be done.

For this year we decided to paint the overalls in the colors of the national flags while maintaining the natural yellow color of the Minions. The exact flag is printed on the stomach and back of the riders, with the rest of the overall colored to match the flag. With seven riders receiving such a special jersey, we will be one of the most colorful teams in the peloton!

With the season close to starting, we thought it would be smart to reveal our calendar for the upcoming season so you can mark the races in the calendar. For our opponents, it is also clear which races cannot be won.

	January
	Down Under Classic	HC	10
	Tour Down Under	C1	14-19
	Tour of East Java	PTHC	28-29
	February
	Omloop Het Nieuwsblad	HC	4
	GP Herning	C2	9
	Tour of Southland	C1	24-28
	March
	Barbados Cycling Festival	HC	1-4
	Roma Maxima	C1	3
	Vuelta al Pais Vasco	HC	7-12
	Circulo de Juarez	C1	9-13
	Vuelta a Colombia	PTHC	14-19
	Le Samyn	C1	18
	Strade Bianche	HC	21
	E3 Prijs	PTHC	28
	Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne	HC	30
	April
	Tour of California	HC	1-7
	Baltic Chain Tour	C1	4-8
	Corsica International	HC	14-16
	Tour of Cyprus	HC	21-24
	Tour of Ukraine	HC	27-29
	Veenendaal - Veenendaal	HC	28
	May
	Cheshire Cycling Tour	PTHC	1-5
	Windhoek ITT	C1	4-5
	Chrono d'Arenberg	PTHC	9-10
	Malopolski Wyscig	C1	15
	Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt	HC	17-23
	Olympia's Tour	C1	23-28
	June
	Hanko Classic	C1	2
	Grands Prix Cyclistes	HC	5-6
	Riga - Jurmala GP	PTHC	8
	Tour of South Africa	C1	18-23
	Monterrey TTT	C1	26
	July
	Tour of the Middle East	HC	5-8
	Celtic Chrono	C1	10-11
	Tour of Slovenie	PTHC	26-30
	August
	Benelux Challenge	C1	1-6
	Macskako Kerekparverseny	C1	4
	Clasica San Sebastian	PTHC	7
	Tour d'Andorra	C1	9-13
	SAA Tour d'Afrique	PTHC	14-17
	Arab Tour	HC	17-21
	Ronde van het IJsselmeer	C1	21
	September
	Balkans International	PTHC	4-11
	Lillestrom GP	C2	23
	Rheden GP	PTHC	25
	Tour of Lithuania	HC	26-29
	October
	GP Kigali	C2	1
	Japan Cup	PTHC	3
	Bayern Rundfahrt	C1	12-15
	Giro dell'Emelia	HC	18

---

We also had to select five goals in which we can get bonuses from the MGUCI. These are the races where we will pull every trick in the book to succeed, including but not limited to throwing bananas on the road to make rivals crash, bribing the commentator to declare us winners, sending a squad of 22 riders to these races and of course hiding some rockets in our bikes.

Vuelta a Colombia - Win



Uran's home race, so he will have a home bonus regardless of our antics. The only goal race not containing a time trial, and also the only one at PTHC level. Achieving this will be difficult but with a little belief and very "ethical" tactics we will complete this one.

Tour of California - Top 5



A race we never participated in, mostly because our former sponsors convinced the US President to ban us from entering the country. With that ban being lifted in exchange for supporting his re-election campaign, we expect some help from him to achieve this goal. Not that Uran needs it.

Corsica International - Top 5



Last year's winner is Uran. This year's winner will be Uran. What we tweeted was a factual description of events. No need to speculate on this.

Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt - Top 5



Another mountainous HC race with a time trial where we have to achieve a top five. Uran finished runner-up here last season, so all we have to do is put something in Pluchkin's drink and we are in prime position to win.

PCT Team Standings - Top 5

In all of our six seasons we went for a top ten goal. The last three years this didn't quite work out, so we have to try something different. Top five also equates automatic promotion to the ProTour which has been the end goal all along.

Down Under Classic



Tour Down Under



Tour of East Java

Down Under Classic



Tour Down Under



Tour of East Java

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad



GP Herning



Tour of Southland

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad



GP Herning



Tour of Southland

Barbados Cycling Festival



Roma Maxima



Vuelta al Pais Vasco



Circulo de Juarez



Vuelta a Colombia



Le Samyn



Strade Bianche



E3 Prijs



Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne

Barbados Cycling Festival



Roma Maxima



Vuelta al Pais Vasco



Circulo de Juarez



Vuelta a Colombia



Le Samyn



Strade Bianche



E3 Prijs



Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne

Tour of California



Baltic Chain Tour



Corsica International



Tour of Cyprus



Tour of Ukraine



Veenendaal - Veenendaal

It's not April anymore, but don't tell that to the poor Minion we have tasked to catchup on the season. It is also the same Minion who decided to travel all over the world to write on every cycling race but the ones his team was involed in, so it's a fair punishment.

Tour of California



Baltic Chain Tour



Corsica International



Tour of Cyprus



Tour of Ukraine



Veenendaal - Veenendaal