Another day gone and another day with three new signings for the team.
With these signings we are getting closer to having the team fully prepared for the next season
Bert Van Lerberghe
30Yo
155.000€
74
60
66
66
75
74
74
77
75
73
68
65
68
75,36
[img-l]https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/riders/bp/ec/bert-van-lerberghe-2022.jpeg[/img-l]After Blythe's arrival on the team, it was essential that we were able to hire riders capable of working and helping the Brit on the cobbles. From day one, Van Lerberghe was one of my targets precisely for this role.
He will form with Robert Bush a duo of gregarious luxury. but as happened with Bush in the previous season, I hope he gets some good results throughout the season at an individual level and may even lead the team in one race or another.
Having signed a contract of 155k it turned out not to be a cheap signing but I am pleased to have managed to secure the services of the Belgian.
Csaba Palyi
32Yo
50.000€
73
66
71
73
72
73
69
71
72
74
71
69
72
73,11
[img-l]https://layout.eurosport.com/i/person/default_large.png[/img-l]Csaba is one of those riders that, although not good at anything, turns out to be quite useful for the team as he is able to ride well on almost any terrain. His signing was primarily intended to fill the empty places in the team, but also to reinforce where we had fewer options. With his skills in the TT and cobbles he will certainly be one of the most used riders throughout the season.
Of course, in terms of points, we expect little or nothing from the Hungarian cyclist, who with a 50k contract has little or nothing to go wrong.
Tom Thill
32Yo
50.000€
74
66
73
74
70
73
70
61
62
66
77
68
74
71,95
[img-l]https://www.procyclingstats.com/images/riders/bp/be/tom-thill-2019.jpg[/img-l]Tom Thill is a cyclist somewhat in the image of Csaba, but although not as versatile he is a bit superior on the hills and in the TT.
He was also hired to fill vacancies in the team, but in this case he will be very useful whenever we come across a TTT. The Luxembourger has been a national TT champion in recent years.
Just like the Hungarian signed a 50k contract in his last season before the decline.
We should certainly have some battles this year on the cobbles! Trentin got the better of Blythehim last year, but with each of them declining, you never know how things will be shaken up. The podium spots behind Stallaert should be well fought.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Sure Palyi feels very flattered by his introduction
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
The transfer period has come to an end and as always it's time to introduce our squad to the world.
This year the team underwent a lot of changes and after several years we decided to change our focus, for the first time in several years we will not have any top sprinter in the division.
As is obvious to all the team will have 4 leaders, Aular and Rodrigues are our men for the general classification whenever the mountain comes our way. For the hills, Paulinho will obviously be the biggest leader, although the most recent acquisition Rui Oliveira will have plenty of possibilities to lead the team throughout the season in races that, although on hills, are expected to end the sprint.
Another acquisition that will certainly lead the team is Blythe, whenever we run cobbles he is the one we will try to take to victory. For this he will count on the precious help of Bush and Lerberghe, two riders in whom I have high hopes so that they can also guarantee good results throughout the season. Kennett is the only pure sprinter we have on the team, but he won't have enough quality to get great results. Even so, I hope that throughout the season he will be able to get some presences in the top 10 of flat stages.
The rest of the team is complete with helpers who, as always, will be able to win points here and there, although great achievements are not expected from any of them.
This year we also invested heavily in training one of our riders. While everyone was attentive to the various transfers that were happening, the Portuguese Joao Rodrigues was carrying out an altitude training which allowed him to move from 78MO to 80MO, thus giving him greater ability to lead the team this year as well as in the future.
In short, this squad will hardly be able to fight for the promotion to the PT, but in my opinion they will be able to ensure the team's maintenance in the PCT without any problems.
@baseballlover312 I'm looking forward to seeing these battles, this is my first year with a serious investment in cobbles and part of my season is dependent on whether or not I succeed in these types of races.
@Jandal7 I don't really care what Palyi feels, all he has to do is play the role he's been given.
Good luck with Lienhard! He really didn't do anything last year for me in PCT, hopefully you find that secret potion that actually makes his nice skillset work out!
While you don't have one of the division's top stage racers, Rodrigues is clearly heading in that direction with his training! Good TTer, and not as low in acceleration as other climbers. Aular will probably be used for pure mountain races, but definitely is a real threat there!
Paulinho is a well-rounded puncheur and should do well - as long as no TT gets in his way obviously.
And Blythe may no longer be the rider he once was, but with only one slight decline and a rather weak cobbles field in PCT should be able to get some brilliant results! Only question mark I have with him is the low res, but that should become more of an issue only with PCM22 as far as I understood those changes...
Kennett is a handy little sprinter, but might need some luck to be successful in pure sprinter races, as you write. If you can find some niches for him, he could still score well.
For the rest, you've got some nice depth for mountains and hills, two great doms for cobbles, and a solid yet not top-class TTT core. I clearly don't see you in relegation danger, and if planning is well done and you're a bit lucky in racing, Top 10 could be possible. Haven't seen all of the division yet, though
Another season approaches the start and we are at that busiest time of the year preparing everything for a great start to the season.
With the promotion of the team to the main division of world cycling, a great revolution was to be expected within the team.
I am therefore very pleased to be able to announce the entry into the team of no less than 3 ManGame legends.
Peter Sagan
33yo
wage:600k
7173826777736861727570776778,87
Peter Sagan is undoubtedly the best rider the team will have this year, the winner of races such as the Classique du Grand Duché or the Giro di Lombardia, he was ranked 7th at an individual level in the ProTour last season.
Although he is no longer at his peak of form, I hope he will still be able to fight for the top places in classics and races whenever the hills appear. A lot of what the team can achieve will depend on his form.
In a relatively easy deal to do, Sagan was so far the only investment made by the team in this transfer market, having cost 850k that we hope will be profitable, not financially but in terms of points and saving the team from possible relegation.
Justo Tenorio
34yo
wage:550k
6682747875737657576482667778,39
Justo Tenorio is our guy for GC and the big races, the winner of the last Critérium du Dauphiné is just like Sagan in the downhill phase of his career, but still has the ability to be an asset to the team.
It will be difficult to be 14th again in the individual standings but if he manages to reach the top20 it will already be a great achievement for the team.
Tenorio had no monetary cost to the team, as he was part of an exchange that involved the transfer of Joao Almeida to the MOL team.
Michal Kwiatkowski
33yo
wage:500k
7177806973757367667472687478
Last but not least we have Michal Kwiatkowski, the Pole and winner of the last Tour of Northern Europe comes to the team with a double objective, to lead himself in some races, as well as to work for Peter Sagan if that is justified.
Like the other 2 riders already announced he is not at his best anymore but he still promises to be able to meddle in the dispute of some races throughout the season.
Like Tenorio, he also had no monetary cost for our team and was part of the same deal as the Spanish rider.
To sum up this first presentation, we got 3 legends, 3 leaders capable of securing points for the team and without having exhausted the entire budget for transfers, I am therefore more than satisfied with these deals
Great trio really. Should score decent and gives you good chances to stay up.
Then you can still get some decent money for them and rebuild with a better core or in worst case of relegation, won't have any problem to form a PCT cap team, maybe even by keeping one/some.
@roturn- This was not the plan for the transfers but circumstances made it happen. Obviously I knew that the future is no longer assured, but I think they are able, with some luck, to keep me in the PT. If that doesn't happen I can always try to make money with 1 of them or even try to keep them and who knows how to get back up to pt
@liefwarrior - Age is just a number that won't stop them from succeeding and, as has been said, the present is more important than the future.
@redordead- Please don't tell anyone but I think they will always run together
@AbhishekLFC- Too bad I think the good quality riders will really stay here, the rest will just have to complete the team with the necessary numbers
Bert Van Lerberghe
Csaba Palyi
Tom Thill
