Before we went into the transfer season, we knew we needed money and we didn't know what for. Let's see what kind of diversified goals we went for.

Should be doable. Pluchkin has declined again, we have the best time trialist and some decent riders in Manninen and Spilak. Only team that should be capable of finishing ahead of us would be Red Bull - Zalgiris.

Once again, very doable. Los Pollos legend Guillén finished second here last year with lead-out Quispe. We bring back our Peruvian as a lead-out, but can't tell you what sprinter(s) will be there for us. We don't expect it to be too hard to beat the best PT sprinters, so we might see Manarelli take the win.

Los Pollos Hermanos CEO Gustavo Fring decided this would be a nice goal for us, but we disagreed. We will not be attending the race with our riders as a protest.

Another flat race, another rather easy win. We'll try to win it with home rider Beukeboom, and will receive aid from home team Philips in order to do so.

Some interesting mountains and hills in Barbados, might be Spilak's time to shine.

This is our calendar. First our three leaders and where they will aim for a decent GC/classic result, or in the case of Zmorka and Manninen sometimes a possible stage win and/or green jersey. The last table is a table of races where we don't have a lot of fire powder, and we tried to find some possible point scorers for those races as well. The fact that Mutsumine and Minoungou are in that table a couple of times should say quite a lot.

Simon Spilak

Marlen Zmorka

Matti Manninen

The start of the season is coming closer, so here's our January preview. A month where we don't/can't expect too much to be honest. Enjoy the read.

Tour Down Under (HC)

GC-wise we probably won't be playing an important role, as our best puncheur in Australia will be Mutsumine. We will have an interesting rider present though, as last year's PCT sprinter Manninen can hopefully give us a nice start of the season with a stage win and a decent position in the battle for the green jersey. There is a chance of him getting a lead-out as he could be one of the better sprinters there, so if that is the case we hope living legend Quispe can do for him what he did for Guillén last year.

Vuelta al Tachira (C2)

We then return to Venezuela, a race that will forever be in our memories as we won our first stages and KoM-jersey there last season. Not one rider that was riding the race for our last time will be back though. Some are gone from the team, and others like Manarelli and Ulloa were too strong or simply had their schedules planned differently. Mostly youngsters going there for us this year, with Munoz being our best bet for a somewhat decent GC positioning, although we don't expect too much.

Hong Kong Challenge (C1)

The Hong Kong Challenge will, not surprisingly, be held in Hong Kong. We do bring some interesting firepower. Zmorka will go for a stage win, and depending on how selective the other stages are, he might even be top-25 in the GC. A top-25 might be possible for Affonso as well, depending on the competition. Our best GC rider should still be Slovenian cult rider Spilak, who explained to Los Pollos TV that he was 'happy to finally be able to compete in a race that is not a Grand Tour'.

Franceville Classique (PTHC)

First Los Pollos PTHC race ever, baby! We go to Gabon with absolutely zero expectations, as we don't have any cobblers this season. We miss you already, Jerome. Last season, in the first edition of the race, the break managed to survive. A similar race story would be to our liking, and the best cobblers for us to be in that break would be Ulloa and Minoungou.

Tour Down Under (HC)

First race, first win(s)! Manninen really did some crazy stuff Down Under. He won the first two stages, and then fought for his life to hang on to the lead in the GC. He was unable to do so, but still surprised a lot of people by finishing second in the GC, behind Team UBS' Ponzi. Our favourite sprinter did win the green jersey as well, really opening the season in style for us.

In his first race as a professional cyclist, Lopez Nolasco made the team management happy by showing himself in the break on the third stage. No other Los Pollos rider made an impact, but that's not really necessary when there is one man doing so much. Let's see if our development team in Tachira can also surprise us like this, although we doubt it.

Manninen winning stage 1 of the Tour Down Under

Hong Kong Challenge (C1)

Sadly enough our sublime form from Down Under did not continue in Hong Kong. Spilak initiated the right attack on the first stage, and was followed by Colombian champion and GC winner Beltran and Slagter. He needed some time to take a breath after the attack and fell back to the chasing group of favourites. He ended eighth on the stage and fourth on stage three, which resulted into a rather disappointing tenth place in the GC. Even more disappointing might have been Zmorka, as the Ukrainian only managed to finish fourth in the time trial on day two. We did hope for an okay-ish GC from loanee Affonso as well, but the Brazilian finished 59th.

Spilak attacking on stage 1, followed by Beltran and Slagter