Gotta second the previous thoughts about selling Owen. I knew you were going all in on the Carribean focus, but I figured he might be the exception to make it through the cull. Nevertheless, very cool to see how the project is developing and what you can do with it over the next few years!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Certainly a very unique and likeable team. Now we just need to wait a bit until you can actually train the riders
No clashes for Puerto Rican riders this year like last year with Perez, but that doesn't mean there won't be more clashes in the future But happy to see Abner Gonzalez at your team, where he belongs.
@MacC - Rum Sunday? Rum everyday! Which might be why we relegated back to the CT
@bbl - With the way we were having to spend Cap on Loaned-Out riders (details coming this evening on the full roster shakedown) holding Owen made less sense without a shot at promotion as we'd have to sell him next year anyway. Instead, training the regional riders is more fun!
Few years to be good yes, but honestly i'd rather remain CT forever being unique. I've done the chasing results, making it to the PT thing already
@Nemo - Training this season! Which as we have only 3 (ish) eligible riders wasn't too tricky. Abner was #2 target. And I welcome interest in regional riders, all feeds the bigger goals of getting a Worlds, and genuine world leading rider.
The Great Big "Slight Intermission" Post
We interrupt your regularly scheduled Team Presentation & Goals posts for this important announcement!
Over the weekend Caribbean sports history was made - Zane Maloney claimed his first win in FIA F3, the first Caribbean driver to win a race in a direct F1 Support/Feeder series.
We salute Zane, having been following him since dominating the 2019 British F4 Championship. The Bajan blazing a trail for us all to follow, putting these wonderful islands centre stage.
Cool to see the team honouring other Carribean achievement As always admire your commitment to the project, will be very interested in seeing it grow and what you can do with training
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." [PT] Xero Racing
@jandal - Well now you can find out! Also, i'm a legit fan of Zanes and was buzzing this weekend at the win.
The Great Big "2022 Podium Ambition" Post
We're back! Roll on the 2022 Season! Transfers are done, Training gained, and Race Planning is in motion. So, how did it go? What is the final form of the team?
2022 Roster
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Wge
Pot
Jay Major
74
50
66
57
74
70
74
70
77
78
62
66
64
74.39
4.100
27
70k
4
Darren Matthews
72
61
66
70
70
67
71
75
76
76
74
66
74
73.3
4.100
31
50k
4
Kim Le Court
70
70
76
60
67
70
68
62
64
66
76
70
61
72.52
4.100
26
50k
4
Shaquille Sinclair
70
57
61
67
69
70
74
55
76
75
60
67
70
71.93
4.100
29
0k
4
Andrew Norbert
71
67
69
69
73
73
60
55
72
71
70
68
71
71.45
3.79
24
50k
6
Jyme Bridges
73
63
71
65
70
69
71
70
70
69
70
64
59
71.42
4.100
33
0k
4
Jonathan Croes
64
71
72
71
70
68
68
56
62
64
65
69
71
70.34
3.44
25
50k
3
Nathan Alexander
71
70
71
69
69
68
69
60
61
66
66
68
69
70.32
3.34
24
50k
3
Kristian Vanderpool
68
64
64
77
63
64
61
60
60
63
62
62
76
70.06
4.100
27
50k
3
Tyler Cole
70
64
68
70
66
67
63
66
69
70
72
69
69
69.47
2.0
23
65k
4
Jacob Kelly
67
63
68
68
67
69
58
67
68
71
74
65
68
69.45
1.62
23
50k
4
Jacob Morales Ortega
65
69
69
60
68
69
69
55
63
69
69
72
61
69.44
2.69
23
50k
5
Cristian Perez
69
62
65
72
70
69
69
69
66
68
72
69
72
69.42
3.17
23
60k
4
Dylan Redy
68
65
69
66
67
67
67
65
68
68
67
65
68
69.12
2.41
23
50k
5
Connor White
70
66
68
67
67
68
63
63
67
68
71
72
69
68.98
1.0
23
60k
5
Zambezi Richardson
68
65
67
60
61
69
62
67
66
68
74
62
64
68.42
1.0
23
10k
3
Kemp Orosco
68
70
68
65
70
64
67
60
63
64
67
63
62
68.14
2.41
23
50k
4
Luis Molina Pagan
66
62
66
68
63
64
62
67
68
71
63
66
68
67.91
1.0
23
10k
4
Abner Gonzalez
66
68
67
60
66
68
60
60
63
64
68
66
61
67.51
1.0
22
50k
5
19 Riders, except it's 18, except it's 16. The final additions since the previous update were Luis Molina Pagan & Zambezi Richardson as Stagieres, as well as Shaquille Sinclair & Jyme Bridges as Draftees.
Expectations? Finish actual stone dead last in the CT. Jay Major becomes clear team leader. Darren Matthews is poised to be the best scorer and option for a result. Kim Le Court has improved at FL & MO to aid in long range stage-race breakaways. Kristin Vanerpool is now 77TT after some training in a vague hope at a few surprise points. Heck, even draftee Shaq Sinclair is basically a team leader!
Tyler Cole, Jacob Kelly, Jacobs Morales Ortega, Cristian Perez, Dylan Redy, Connor White, Zambezi Richardson, Kemp Orosco, Luis Molina Pagan and Abner Gonzalez are all Avenir eligible. Yes, more than half the team are un-maxed U23's!
In fact, only 6 riders are max'd, with the remaining 13 being Lvl 3 or below. Guess what our primary aim for the season is? Yep, development! And we will do a separate Progression Preview post at a later date.
Loan Outs
But TMM, there's quite a lot of Cap space left? Well notived dear reader! We also have 5 Riders on PT Loans, and we are paying the full wages of 4 of those.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
XP
Age
Wge
Pot
Alexandre Mayer
68
69
76
70
64
71
70
61
72
76
75
60
71
74.55
4.20
24
110k
2
Christopher Lagane
69
69
75
66
68
70
63
65
74
75
68
62
65
74.31
4.17
24
70k
6
Hasani Hennis
67
67
70
74
70
70
69
69
74
75
69
68
74
72.31
4.11
25
50k
5
Akil Campbell
73
63
68
75
67
67
67
72
68
73
67
66
74
72.21
4.11
26
0k
4
Joshua Gayral
72
65
71
70
69
70
71
70
70
71
74
62
70
71.8
4.36
25
50k
3
This is where our quality and skills lie.... on other teams... But look at those skills, next season we are going to have a plethora of real CT quality scorers. Which works our, as we'll need 4 more PT loans. Yes, we're trying to set up a little converyor belt of regional talent.
Goals
We have also Goals!
Tour of America - Stage Win Clasico San Jose - Top 5 USAPCC - Top 10 Geraadsbergen-Bosberg - Win Team Standings - Top 10
A huge change, we did not go big, and went mostly close to home! Look , when you're team lacks leaders and is based on development Goals are irrelevant. So fingers crossed for breakaways!
Summary
19 Riders on the Squad, with 5 more Loaned Out. We're 95k under Cap for the year, and with stat gains to come next season that built in buffer is invaluable!
Through transfers we took in over 3.2 million in fees, paid over 1.2 in renewal fines and a further 500k in Tax. Still this allowed a 2.1 mil Training investment, mostly into Kristin Vanderpool, but also our Queen Le Court.
Squad Average Age 25. Take out the Draftees, that dips to 24.3, one of the lowest in MG history! Average OVL 70.19 quite possibly one of the lowest in MG history! We continue to set records here at Podium Ambition!
Next record, lowest scoring season ever? Stick around and find out, we'll at least bring you other interesting Caribbean/Mauritian content... and gifs!
I really love your commitment to the all-Caribbean approach, although that will probably mean rather few highlights this year... However, Le Court has always been a good attacker, and the training will hopefully help getting more out of those breakaways.
Major should do well, and Matthews could be a dark horse for the cobbles when attrition isn't too high. Vanderpool might be up for some surprises as well, just need some TT lottery luck every now and then
All the best for the year, and hopefully you can somehow manage to keep your motivation high even if some races will be rough for you!
Easily one of my favorite team, and it will be an hounour to compete with you.
I think transfer fury got the better of my development focus ideal, but this is a goal I'll try to follow next year.
And also, always such a pleasure to read your well written posts.
Never thought I'd see the day where two of my former talents would lead a team. The identity of the team is fantastic, and I'm sure the results will be fantastic in a few years. For now, enjoy the road to success
Love that squad, sticking to your regions and focusing on talent. I see quite some similarities. Wish youu the best for the upcomming season i will allow especially you to be the first team behind mine or i just could accept it more easily when i lose against you
No more 23 goal cost means I must carry on the tradition by myself for years to come, unless you'll make a comeback next year for more training money With a lack of current training options I do like bringing Vanderpool to 77 TT, while also training Le Court. Hope to see your boys (and girls) in a lot of breakaways this season.
@Fabi - Motivation is fine, because i'm well aware this year (like last, and the year before that) are going to be awful in terms of results. Instead it's why i'm being more engaged in DB work and have a few other HQ possible surprises in mind.
Will be well worth it once we start getting self generate leaders and a capable team!
@Imladrik - Eh, Year 1 every single transfer plan flies out the window within hours so don't worry. Learn and make Year 2 even better! This is at the extreme end of development focus, but i need to force the MG to generate me an 80+ Caribbean leader somehow
@Marco - I keep saying i wish Matthews was 26 years old, and I'll plow every single spare dollar into making him a super fun rider. Major is just shocked to be a Leader, even if only for one year. Hey, maybe Marcos will join us as well for a swansong 2023
@Ezee - Trust me, you'll be well clear of us in rankings. Lets get a friendly rivalry going and fight to the PT together in a couple of seasons!
@Nemo - Can't train the newly maxed riders next year, so most likely another low Goal cost season just to consolidate the team. Had a lot of thoughts about Major SP training, or Le Court HL or Vanderpool PRL. But i feel this brings the biggest upsides with more TT's than PRL's and won't jump Le Courts or Vanderpools wages next time around.
Lots of breaks for the bright pink jersey indeed is the plan. Or just chugging lots of delicious refreshing Mount Gay Rum #ad
@all - In case anyone is confused why a Brit who's basically half-American/half-Canadian is running a Caribbean/Mauritian team... well for work today i've phoned Mauritius, and emailed with Barbados, Jamaica & St Eustatius already Edited by TheManxMissile on 01-09-2022 14:23
The Great Big "Wow, We were really not that far off" Post
The first Goal race of the year has come and gone, the Clasico San Jose. We had this put down as a Top 5 Goal, although our expectation was not that high. More in the "maybe a Top20" category for this season as we continue our development programme.
Kemp Orosco continued a bright early season going back-to-back in one-day bareakaways. He was also off the front for the Gisborne GP. Darren Matthews showed himself for the first time also being in the bumper break. Then Dylan Redy showed return on his new full-time contract, having ridden as a Stagiere last year.
It was Redy who showed he was actually ready. The break was caught of course, but he dug deep to finish 14th! That's just 9 places below the goal. Far closer than we realistically expected, especially in a race where Kim Le Court seemed off the pace. Failed Goal, but positive signs in a triple breakaway ride and Top15 finish.
However the rider of the month for January (an award we will not be keeping up with) is Connor White! A handful of days in both the KoM & White Jersey at the Vuelta Tachira, courtesy of four separate breakaway efforts in the 10 day Venezuelan race.
A close second place finish in this contest for Shaq Sinclair, via two 4th place sprints also in Tachira. The Jamaican sprinter turning good return on his fully subsidised draft contract.
White showing he has the ambition to stand on the podium. Shaq has become a competent sprinter too, for Tachira at least. There'll be plenty more surprise performances this season I'm sure
@Fabi - I'd rather not see Moscon joining the breakaway, because then it'll be chased, and breakaways are all i've got this year
@Marco - Not sure about competent, but with this AI lottery Shaq can pop-in a few more Top5's i'm sure. Already proving to be a good Draft pick. White, maybe i need to change my dev plans for him to a more rounded climber
First up in this second-in-season update, probably tieing our record of the previous couple of seasons, we have to shout out loud Akil Campbell riding on loan for Zwift. The Trinidad & Tobagoan rider got into the break of the day, and then still finished 16th in Franceville Classique - what a performance! Maybe we got it wrong when viewing him as more or a future time trialist over classics man. The Caribbean Cancellara? It's a good nickname.
January's Rider of the Month kept up his good form. In both GP Herning and Gent - Wevelgem, Dylan Redy was down the road in the breakaways. But whilst the Mauritian was no in Catalunya, our breakaway streak was still red hot! Kim Le Court put her new training to good use, making the days break on 4-out-of-5 road stages and gunning hard for the KoM Jersey as a result. In fact on Stage 5 she damn near stole the win from the main contenders, ending up painfully close with a 4th place finish - equalling our seasons best finish position.
Le Queen got plenty of help. Jacob Kelly made two breakaways, but admittedly struggled on the steep slopes of the regions climbs. Last, and defintiely not least, Jon Croes came and stole the show!
The Arbuan also made 4-out-of-5 breakaways, and he did claim the King of the Mountains! It was close, way too close considering we had two riders going for the dots. But a gutsy final day put him just clear, and T3A bags our first Jersey win of the season! All smiles until we realise this adds 10k to his salary renewal instantly... A thoroughly well deserved Rider of the Month (which again, we won't be keeping up with all season).
In other Caribbean Sports news - we celebrate Fraser McConnell and his victory in Group E at NRX of California event last weekend. The Jamaican was on fire all weekend long and won in style. If you've not heard of NRX (and i wouldn't be surprised), go find their Youtube page for some wild racing that is as close to "video game in real life" as you'll ever see.
Awesome job done by your riders this year! Pretty much their only task is to attack, and that works like a charm, with Croes' KoM jersey obviously being a highlight. By the end of the season, you may have won one more of them than we do
The Great Big "Whelp, so this is what our season is" Post
We should quote Bob Marley here, but i am far more a Bob Dylan person. And the times, they are changin'. Or at least reverting to a more normal state. Our early season run of breakaways and fun racing came to a fairly grinding halt. With the exception of a Morales Ortega break in the GP Izola we have been unusually quiet.
Kristian Vanderpool paid off some of the training spend, delivering a nice Top10 in the opening stage of Jelajh. Although neither Major or Matthews or anyone would make much of an impact after that. So much so here, and in other events like Guadeloupe, were we quiet there is no Rider of the Month for March - we did say this wouldn't last as competition.
Fingers are crossed we can get our swagger and panache back before too many races pass by. Otherwise we'll need to figure out what more fun updates we can bring you all. Or just gifs?
Well, I find that gif pretty relaxing - and your current situation, too. At least much more than when you think your team might have a shot at winning the division
Stilll, I wish you good luck and many breakaways for your next races! There's nothing as boring as knowing you don't have a GC contender, and still no-one is even trying to attack... Was there quite some times in PCT last year ^^
The Great Big "Still Here, Still Chipping Away" Post
We're still alive! Still having a very unremarkable season, bar the fact we are still on track to set a record foor worst season in MG history. Progress has been seen in glimpses, notably some strong ITT and TTT results lately have come through. Which would make sense as this is what the Caribbean have tradtionally been keen on, and certainly what this current crop of talents shines on more than other terrains.
With World Championships voting going on we have offered up our thoughts, although with a Cobbles route seemingly coming along there isn't any expectation we'll see any team representation. Give it another couple of years and we can think about making a Caribbean entry rather than a specific national entry, given the right course.
National route suggestions have been submitted. We're also prepping our developmental input for the youngsters. We're still here, still chipping away at the project. Slow going, but we are going. Maybe if we drank less Rum and spent less time at the beach we'd grow quicker...
But happy to see Abner Gonzalez at your team, where he belongs.
claimed his first win in FIA F3, the first Caribbean driver to win a race in a direct F1 Support/Feeder series.
As always admire your commitment to the project, will be very interested in seeing it grow and what you can do with training 
Tour of America - Stage Win
Geraadsbergen-Bosberg - Win
