Also a big fan of Granados, lots of interesting paths there. I was a little worried you weren't in on him at one point, so glad you got to him and 55k is a good price.
@redordead I have a tough time deciding what direction to take with him, but I guess there's plenty of time to figure that out.
@cunego59 I'll continue to build the Costa Rican and Central American bases as far as possible. And I believe from next year I'll start ripping the rewards.
@TheManxMissile That would have brought war for the signing of Kaden Hopkins.
@Ulrich Ulriksen Not me. I was away last week with little or no internet connection so I had a slow start. I am happy I managed to sign him.
LUIS ENRIQUE LEMUS DAVILA 31 y/o, OVL: 74,11, Wage: 75,000
FL
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FGH
DOW
PRL
70
77
72
72
75
70
68
56
57
62
71
72
72
The team’s last season rider of the year and winner of the PCT Individual Rankings is on the move. In a deal worth 1,500,000 in cash Jonas Ahlstrand returns to the Pro Tour defending the colors of Minions. The Swedish speedster was a valuable rider for our team and we would like to thank him for the year spent with us and wish him the same level of results at his new team. The move also sees the arrival of the Mexican mountain goat Luis Enrique Lemus Davila. We hope he can lead our team to great things, not as great as those of Jonas Ahlstrand, we are not crazy enough to demand impossuble things, but to some results that would make us proud.
JOAO GASPAR 31 y/o, OVL: 73,58, Wage: 50,000
FL
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FGH
DOW
PRL
71
75
75
66
73
72
74
55
61
67
72
70
66
Another deal sees us moving south and bringing in the Brazilian Joao Gaspar from Lampre – Pinarello. For a fee of 250,000 we acquire a rider capable of helping in the mountain and hills races, the team manager envisioning him as a domestique for our leaders. We do hope he can put in the work and maybe snatch a couple of results in the process.
Since the birth of our team we has a connection with the greatest cycling nation in Latin America. However, the team manager is left with mixed feelings regarding this connection. The results brought by Johan Esteban Chaves (2 years with the team) and Nairo Quintana (1 year with the team) are nowhere near the expected. As a matter of fact we feel those are rather disappointing than plain meah. But the team manager seems reluctant to abandon this connection outright, therefore this time around he signed not a renown Colombian rider but an up and coming cyclist, German Dario Gomez. Of course, it remains to be seen if his developing within our ranks would prove beneficial for the both parties. We certainly hope it does.
An awesome transfer period for you it seems! Felt like we were often going back and forth, especially for your Costa Rican signings and Gaspar, but I'm happy to see them all find their way home. Looking forward to developing the Western hemisphere together and encouraging others to add animals to their jerseys!
@seancoll Thank you! Well, I achieved most of my goals and although I certainly don't expect promotion this year I am looking forward to the next season when I can see the rewards of developing the Central American cycling. It's cool we have another team in the Western hemisphere and you are right, we definitely need more animals on the jerseys.
KRISTIAN HAUGAARD JENSEN 32 y/o, OVL: 77,19, Wage: 225,000
FL
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FGH
DOW
PRL
71
70
80
67
77
73
71
55
66
76
81
73
70
Another move sees the departure of Nairo Quintana and the arrival of Kristian Haugaard Jensen. The deal made with Carlsberg - Danske Bank also means that our team changes its leadership from sprint to hills, but it remains in the Northern region of Europe replacing a Swede with a Dane. This transaction includes a fee of 504,000 payed by our team and that means, according to our team manager, that Nairo Quintana ended up costing us more than we barging for, in financial terms but also sportive ones. However, such a move was needed, in order for our team to work in reaching the minimum limit of riders while remaining within the cap space limit. Anyway, you lose some you win some and it’s better to not dwell too much on the past in the detriment of present and future, so we are definitely looking forward to see what Kristian Haugaard Jensen would bring to the team and if his results would be on equal terms with the former Viking leader of our team. And we definitely have now a high hopes of competing for the victory in our home race, Clasico San Jose.
Last name
First name
FL
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FGH
DOW
PRO
Wage
Huertas
Jason
73
63
68
73
73
72
71
61
73
75
76
66
74
50,000
Jimenez Retana
John
69
59
64
57
67
67
71
69
75
77
63
68
63
50,000
Rivera
Kevin
68
75
69
59
71
72
69
57
60
71
72
69
58
50,000
Rojas
Henry Antonio
68
68
74
63
75
70
70
68
67
74
71
70
66
50,000
We would like to thank 2 Pro Tour teams, the same Carlsberg - Danske Bank and MOL Cycling Team, who took in our young riders for a season of development to the highest level of potential. Henry Antonio Rojas and John Jimenez Retana will ride in the North (this region again), with Carlsberg - Danske Bank, while Jason Huertas and Kevin Rivera will do so with MOL Cycling Team. As we can see our cyclists are well provided for handling the faraway from home experience, 2 teammates ride together in their adopted homes. Not that we fear they’ll not be welcomed and well treated during this abroad experience.
Can't go wrong with a Mexican As I have told you earlier, Gomez is a vey nice talent and I'm glad you got him. Same with Granados of course. Think that Jensen signing is also a great one for CT, promotion to PCT is definitely on the tables again
Glad we were able to work out the Jensen deal. I'm really looking forward to see him dominate CT and hopefully win your home race! And your talents will be well taken care of!
@Nemolito I am not sure about promotion but I am excited about the future. I believe starting next year I can begin to harvest my crops 3 years in the making. And it was definitely time to have a Mexican in my team.
@baseballlover312 Thank you again for the dealings, it was a pleasure. The home race is my main objective so I am looking forward to see how it goes this year. And I know my guys will have a wonderful time with your team.
Some nice Signings and it seems there is a stroooong Puncheur section. I need to focus on other races then.
Good Luck for the season and hopefully we can battle for the top spots.
@Ezeefreak Thank you. Yes, Jensen is our strongest card and I am hoping for some nice results from him. Climbing has a chance as well, but once again TT and cobbles are left to their own devices.
@redordead I feel that way too. Of course, Jensen is by far our leader, but my look is on the future and here and now will become a reality next year.
You may call our team manager a sentimental and there’s little chance to be wrong. The third comeback of the year is made by Erick Herrera, who was our first signing 2 years ago when our team was born. So, the team manager felt that leaving Erick hanging in the limbo of the free agency with little sign of interest in his service would not do and offered him a new contract. Sentimental, I know, and fodder for the carnivore world of management action where the weak are devoured in the blink of an eye, but the move is also backed by the work done by Erick Herrera in the service of others and by his 2 victories in the youth classifications of Tour of the Middle East and Tour of Langkawi in 2021. However, Erick will not ride for our team this year, he is loaned to Genii Hyundai N Cycling to complete his full development in 1 year, rather than 2 as it would have been the case with our team.
EMIL ANDERSSON 30 y/o, OVL: 72,59, Wage: 50,000
FL
MO
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FGH
DOW
PRL
71
55
63
60
74
73
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63
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60
Gabriel Marin put a tremendous work as lead-out for the Swedish speedster, Jonas Ahlstrand, last season. Now, as he becomes the main sprinter of our team, a Swedish will fill that role for him. Emil Andersson rode for Tafjord Kraft last season and when the team manager decided to bring in a lead-out man for Gabriel Marin the Swede was the chosen one in the end. We do hope this duo will grease the cogs of the sprint mechanism well and they’ll work together to the best results possible.
As the final hours of the transfer period were drawing closer and closer our team manager faced a question: do we remain true to a fault to our commitment of building the future, with another year of patience in sight, or do we invest in here and now, with the risk of falling behind in depth scoring (not for the first time) by going for older free agents with no guaranteed results. After some pondering the decision was made and 3 riders (Bulux, Cadena, Ruiz) who were offered stagiare contracts were contracted as full time members of our team as a result. Further still, and here the quote of „everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth” became truth to us, 2 new Costa Rican youngsters join the team. The plan, or the imagined part of it, was for Gabriel Francisco Rojas, who rode as stagiare for us last year, and Luis Esteban Murillo to draw no interest from other teams and to sntach them in the CT draft. It worked for a time, until both received stagiare contracts from other teams and our team manager admitted his mistake, rectifying it by offering free agent contracts to the 2 home riders.
@Laurens147 Thank you. Well, it's not a rebuild exactly it is more of a construction of the region. And I believe that it went well so far, it only remains to be seen if from next season it begins to bear fruit.
After a hectic activity, calculations, panic and breaths of relief the dust settles on another transfer period. The team manager is satisfied with what he achieved this time of the year, his main targets signed with our team, with the exception of the Salvadorian Brandon Rodriguez, while our 4 young riders closer to reaching their full potential were loaned out in order to achieve that this year. Once again the leaders of our team are on the more experienced side, but they are here to provide the team with some results, after all it’s no fun to have your ass kicked at every corner, while the team manager follows his main strategy. He set out 2 years ago with the objective of building a strong foundation of regional riders for the future and his work begins to take shape. As he confessed to us his project needs one more year to fully develop, but he is deeply satisfied by the shape the core of the team takes and believes that pushing for constant results starting from next season in an achievable goal. He also revealed that promotion is not an objective this year, instead he’ll concentrate on the further development of our young riders. The conclusion of the 3 years plan of setting the foundation will certainly be followed by a shift in demands and expectations, but the team manager assured us that he remains true to his principal of developing the region’s young talents. After all we might construct on a strong scaffold, but the project still needs to be fed in order to not come crashing down heavily. We believe a bright future lies ahead for this team and although the path has been bumpy and painful its rewards will make it all worthwhile.
So, with all those thoughts and dreams in mind we are proud to present the roster that will tackle our third season in the MG circuit.
I guess I'll have to agree that promotion can't be the main goal this year. You do have a solid roster, and Lemus Davila and Gaspar will surely bring in some points from stage races. But apart from the obvious star KHJ, you don't have tons of potential scorers. He should rock the CT hills, though, so you're still set to have some fun this year
Marin is still an OK stage race sprinter, but probably not more than that in what is a stacked sprinter's field in CT. And both cobbles and TTs still aren't an area you're exactly focusing in
However, I'm impressed by the huge number of unmaxed riders. I count 12 of them in your 2023 roster (although I'm not sure how many are loaned in, if any), plus the five loan-outs - it's definitely no exaggeration to say that the future looks bright Looking forward to the maxed versions of Rojas, Rivera and Jimenez Retana who should be CT-level leaders next year
Herrera unfortunately won't make a big jump due to his measly potential, and Huertas will be an intriguing TTing leadout rider
Granados obviously is your new top talent, looking forward to see what path you're going to take him!
Good luck, and hopefully some positive results in what is looking to be a transition year for you
You are on a long term project and as you said yourself, promotion might be a tough ask this season. But you've built a competitive squad and you should have a fun season ahead of you
I don't think promotion can be ruled out at this stage: I like Marin and Lemus Davila has the potential to be a Top 20 scorer in the CT. However, the main man is definitely KHJ - I'll be shocked if he doesn't dominate the hills this year.
I was away last week with little or no internet connection so I had a slow start. I am happy I managed to sign him.
LUIS ENRIQUE LEMUS DAVILA 
JOAO GASPAR 
GERMAN DARIO GOMEZ 
KRISTIAN HAUGAARD JENSEN 
Huertas
Rojas
As I have told you earlier, Gomez is a vey nice talent and I'm glad you got him. Same with Granados of course. Think that Jensen signing is also a great one for CT, promotion to PCT is definitely on the tables again 
ERICK HERRERA 
EMIL ANDERSSON 
FREDY DOMINGO BULUX 
BREDIO RUIZ 
Lavery
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
