knockout Yeah, I agree, especially for an unmaxed rider. And to be honest, with 77 Hi he won't have tons of chances to get some notable result. Imho the OVL calculation clearly overvalues him - just looking at his wage, I think it's fine for his OVL. Just compare him with Meurisse - almost C&P stat-wise, but Mauro gets 30k less this year. Can't beat the system there ^^
To be expected to have a lot of wage rises after your awesome 2022 but certainly managed well and when you're bringing such an incredible base up I think it's alright to have a bigger than usual wage base for a promoting team. You must be having a lot of fun planning who to add on top to take on the PCT
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
I love Mauro, like a revved-up version of Hoelgaard, one of my favorite riders. Once maxed he will be awesome. Happy to take him off your hands if that salary weighs on you too much.
Squad looks really great, reminds me of Cedevita with the combination of age and regional focus. I think those TT guys are tremendously valuable as I believe the calendar still favors TT, particularly when can hold their own on some climbs. Some of the others not quite top tier PCT but will still be very competitive. And with over $1.0 M to spend you have plenty of room to add.
After a successful year in CT, we're back in PCT - where we need a bigger roster, and hence aren't in a position where we'd necessarily sell any riders. However, we can imagine a lot of moves, especially swapping some of our current riders for stronger ones (throwing some cash in as well, obviously). And even though we consider some riders to be "untouchable" right now, who knows what happens during the crazy week that is transfers...
In order for you to have an idea who's most likely to be traded - and yeah, due to tax reason we prefer swaps to straight sales - here's the availability overview:
Rider
2023 Wage
Availability
Mauro Schmid
€ 210,000
•
Gianni Moscon
€ 180,000
•••
Colin Stüssi
€ 190,000
••
Fausto Masnada
€ 150,000
••
Stefan Bissegger
€ 105,000
•
Alexys Brunel
€ 100,000
•
Gino Mäder
€ 100,000
••
Manuel Stocker
€ 50,000
••
Szymon Rekita
€ 100,000
••
Gergely Szarka
€ 50,000
••
Gabriel Chavanne
€ 60,000
••
Leonardo Basso
€ 50,000
••
Krzysztof Marchewka
€ 60,000
•••
Christoph Janssen
€ 50,000
•
•
Unavailable
••
Unlikely to leave
•••
Maybe, maybe not
••••
Likely to leave
•••••
Available
As said before, there's no clear intention to sell any of our current riders. In general, if one rider leaves, we either get an offer we cannot refuse, or - more ideally - we get a stronger rider or one who suits our regional focus in return.
Gianni Moscon looks to be the most likely rider to leave the team. Although we think that the new game version could give him a better treatment due to stamina getting more importance, he's the obvious choice to clean up some cap space with Schmid (hopefully) maxing in one year and taking the spot of lead puncheur anyway. Getting a punchy sprinter for him, or using him in a swap for a top stage racer would be our ideal scenario.
Krzysztof Marchewka has just won the Polish ITT title ahead of his teammate Szymon Rekita. Whereas both might leave the team due to not really matching the current regional focus, both would first have to be replaced by similar level TTers - ideally more versatile ones. We definitely target to keep our TT core strong, so we'd need some replacement before, or in a swap deal for one or both of them.
Fausto Masnada was the first big name we signed, and we really don't want to let him go. His skillset is just great, and he proved his worth last year in various races. However, this is his final year of training eligibility, so if anyone wants to make him even greater, we would like to give him this chance, as he's unlikely to be trained with us. It goes however without saying that he won't leave for free, not even remotely...
Colin Stüssi was one of our heros last year, finishing 2nd in the CT individual standings. However, having turned 30 already, he's in the same situation as Fausto - and hence isn't a long-term solution for the lead stage racer position. He will only go if it helps us getting a big-time PCT leader, though.
Gino Mäder is actually slightly more likely to leave. Although he was the first ever talent we signed, we have to admit that his limited punch doesn't really make him a viable option for becoming the top stage racer we imagined him to be one day. Sad for Switzerland, but he just lacks something to become great. But he's definitely a useful rider - having just two dots means we'd actually still prefer to keep him around!
There are many more riders with two dots, meaning that all might leave if the right offer gets on the table - but they're not likely to move away.
One word on Mauro Schmid: We know it's a risky approach, but we'd actually prefer to max him in-house, playing around with some PT wildcards. We figured out that it should actually work, but we might still change our mind towards the end of transfers, if we don't have enough money to apply for wildcards.
We obviously won't reveal our precise transfers strategy, but here's what we're mainly looking for:
Looking for...
Stage Racer: We love climbers, and we love TTers. So you can imagine that we'd love to get a rider who excels at both. We're not dreaming of getting T.P. obviously, that's not even remotely an option - but if you think one of your riders could match our criteria, hit us up!
Sprinter: We took the approach without a top sprinter last year, and it worked out well. However, due to bands, we'll have some flat classics and sprinter-friendly stage races this time around, so we might be interested in a decent sprinter. Decent meaning 80+, as those are pretty rare in FA nowadays.
TTer: Yep, we love those, as said before. We're not that much after one-dimensional riders, though, so ideally we prefer TTers who can also handle some bumps. Or do something else, like cobbles, as we do have some mandatory races there...
And no, we're not looking for a top-level cobbler, as our band choices are far from optimal for that type of rider. Maybe next year...
Open for Loans
Rider development has always been a priority for us, and as always, we're glad to help out other teams develop their riders.
And here's one of the reasons why we wouldn't like to loan out Schmid:
We'll attempt to keep our loan cap clean, meaning we're open for a big, fat 1 -> 3 loan this year. We'll also happily take 50-100k riders, for whom we'd pay the entire wage, so the previous statement remains valid.
Generally speaking, just hit us up if you've got some ideas! We won't refuse any (serious) talks, no matter the dots up there - they just give you a hint at how big your chances for success are.
We like crazy ideas, and every now or then one of those might actually materialize!
jandal Thanks Yeah, I think the base is good, now it's all about adding the right pieces to make this a PCT-worthy roster. I don't know yet whether to make an attempt at back-to-back promotion, or leave some room for (good) talents - we'll see
cio Yeah, I guess their wage now includes that TdF bonus
Trained Stüssi was indeed great, despite some difficulties getting up to speed.
As written above, I'd prefer to max Mauro in-house, but I'm always glad to talk
redordead I know I'm probably a bit extreme in that respect, but I'm slightly worried when I see that most of my leaders have reached their 30s now But yeah, I guess there are 2-3 good years left for that squad, enough time for a gradual rebuild I hope.
Ulrich Thanks, I guess this year I can still carry his weight Could be something else next year, though, looks like he'll have a ridiculous OVL if it isn't fixed by then (which I hope it will be)...
I agree that there's enough room to add some quality - now it's all about finding the right riders for that
Very intruiging to see it's not impossible to target Mäder and Stüssi. Those are both high on my list of "To watch" list Still unlikely to sell obviously, but who knows if something can happen
Too bad though that my two top priorities by some margin, Brunel and Bissegger isn't available
Abhi That's the current plan, indeed. I think with the core I have, I can afford to go with a rather conservative strategy this time, waiting for some unexpected opportunities. I'll obviously have to get at least one really good PCT-level leader, but I think there should be some options for this
SotD Well, never say never. But both Bissegger and Brunel are U25 eligible this year, and they sure bring my TT core to another level. So I'd need a very good incentive to let go of either.
Not that much different for Mäder and Stüssi, but if a great deal option arises, it might happen that one of them leaves...
Ollfardh Happy to do so, if it means you'll give us a chance to complete the Polish TT trio by sending Sajnok our way
Think it's a wise plan to be pretty confident in what you have and expanding on it rather than clearing much out
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
Phew, here we are! We haven't been very active HQ-wise, but those transfers have been driving us crazy - at times even considering to not do any talks again and just use our money on traning camps.
Well, while we're not sure at all that our latest discussion will come to fruition or fail like the dozens before, we were at least able to sign a couple of Free Agents so far - all of them talents from our home or neighboring countries. Let's take a look:
Jan Sommer | 23 y.o. | lvl 2 | € 75,000 | pot. 6
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Current
70
60
63
65
68
68
66
68
66
69
70
65
66
Max
76
60
67
65
74
72
69
75
66
70
77
68
66
Yes, you're right - we actually signed a future cobbles helper! On one hand, Jan was one of this year's top Swiss talents out there - although he's already at level 2 and comes with some experience. On the other hand, we've always neglected this terrain so far - time to change it!
There were plans to build up a minor cobbles department right from the start - you may remember that we signed Patrick Gamper in our first year, who's a well-known rider in the entire MG world by now. But we sold him in year two - and ever since then, Leo Basso was our strongest "cobbler".
We finally want to change that! Not this year, as our calendar is not really suited to a top cobbler - but next year, or the year after at latest. Jan is a good start to this project, and although he won't ever be a world beater, he'll be very helpful with decent cobbled skills and some incredible determination! We're looking forward to developing him and seeing him in some breakaways (on mandatory cobbles or not) starting right this year!
Yet another Swiss rider, welcome Felix! He was already on the market last year, but couldn't find a team. He made some remarkable progress during the offseason, though, and now was interesting enough for us to make him a minimum wage offer - which he happily accepted.
We're not sure yet which direction to go with him. On one hand, Manuel Stocker's peak time will soon be over, and so we could be looking for a leadout replacement. On the other hand, his current skillset also allows us to shape him up as a puncheur with some sprinting skills. We'd currently rather see him go down this path, but this can still change. In any case, we're happy to have him on board!
Hugo Page | 22 y.o. | lvl 1 | € 100,000 | pot. 6
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
Current
66
65
66
61
68
68
62
61
69
72
68
69
66
Max
73
66
69
61
75
71
77
66
78
80
68
70
66
Bienvenue à bord, Hugo! Page is definitely our most interesting talent signing so far - his maxed statline tells you why. He's bound to grow into a well-rounded sprinter, with the acceleration you like to have to later focus on top-speed training! Even some hills training might be on the cards - we're absolutely stoked to have him!
It did take some more time of waiting, and some more wage than for the others, but we believe he's well worth the effort! Although we're not a French team, we're close enough to lock him up for the coming decade and hopefully help him become the great sprinter he deserves to be!
To date, these are the only Free Agents we were able to sign. We also placed a tentative offer on Kevin Vauquelin, who we'd have loved to get - but we feel that he's in a perfect place with Ekoi - Le Creuset now. Barnabas Peak eventually ended up with Lidl Cycling, whereas the other riders we placed a bid on don't have a sealed deal yet.
We'll see if we try our chance in Free Agency again - there are still some really interesting riders out there! But for now, we enjoy getting to know our three new arrivals!
jandal Well, if others keep telling you that you've got a good roster, I guess you eventually start believing them
Colombini showed that the other way can lead to some quite nice results as well, though ^^
This time, it's all about deals. Mainly deals that haven't materialized. We made offers for various different stage racers - Rafael Reis, Louis Meintjes, Ryan Eastman, Justo Tenorio, Freddy Galta to just name a few - but got either outbid almost instantly, or weren't happy with the conditions.
In hindsight, maybe we should have accepted the deal for Eastman, who will now be riding for fellow newly promoted team Glanbia. We didn't, and so it currently looks that Colin Stüssi will be our main stage racer, just like last year in CT.
There was also a deal for time triallist Edoardo Affini - not a rider with a particularly appealing skillset, there are dozens of similar ones out there - but whereas most other deals just ran through, ours didn't. We don't know why, but alas, he preferred greener (Indian) pastures apparently.
There was still one deal that finally not only materialized, but even was sealed. The sad part of it is, we have to bid goodbye to Gianni Moscon. Gianni was riding with us for three years, 2020 - 2022. In his first year, he got our first ever classic win in team history, crossing the line first in Coppa Placci. He wouldn't be able to add another classics win, but he did win a couple of stages, and even reached a Top 5 GC result last year in Euskal Bizikleta. Thank you, Gianni - we'll miss you!
Gianni was part of a multi-rider deal we struck with DK Žalgiris, for which we paid € 250,000 on top of Moscon. In return, we got two riders, who we happily present to you here and now:
We lose our top puncheur, but we get a pretty similar one back. Slightly weaker on the hills, Xuban - not our first Spaniard, by the way - is a bit quicker on the longer uphills, but otherwise really similar to Gianni. However, he's stronger in time trials, making him more interesting for races with TTT events. And we do like TTT events, as you might now.
Furthermore, Xuban is two years younger, and so should be a dual threat on the hills with Mauro Schmid for years to come!
Welcome back, Giorgi! The Georgian rode with us in his very first professional year, back in 2021, as a loan-in rider. Back in these days, he was one of our most aggressive team members, being often found in breakaways - without much success, but we appreciated the effort.
And now, two years later, he's back as a full team member! The reason for this should be apparent if you remember what we wrote about Jan Sommer - we'd like to build up a cobbles department soon. Giorgi is another piece of that puzzle - and despite the final step of his development pending, he's looking to be our strongest cobbler this year!
We obviously don't expect great things from him this year; the competition will just be too strong in our mandatory cobbled races. And even in the future, he'll clearly act as a valuable domestique. We hope that the fact that we're building the base now will sound attractive to our potential future leaders, and we're looking forward to that day!
Time to celebrate! In this update, we can proudly announce that we managed to achieve one of our main targets in this transfer window. Ladies and gentlement, here is...
Stefan has been one of our main targets ever since we joined the MG circuit in 2019. In the first two years, impossible to get him from Generali, with legendary manager matt17br holding a firm grip on him. No offer would be enough to get him back home. In 2021, Generali messed up his renewals, but even then we had no chance of signing him, not against a PT team. Similar in 2022, after our relegation back to CT, we simply couldn't match the bids that were made for him.
But now, after Crabbe's unfortunate relegation, they had to clean up some room - and Stefan was one of the riders who was available. Whereas initial negotiations weren't fruitful - not even via another team that also tried to sign him in vain - we were finally able to convince team manager Laurens with our € 600,000 offer.
Not that much money, you might argue - but Stefan's high wage - which was reduced by 150k during renewals nonetheless - probably discouraged other teams to go higher. So here we are, having signed yet another 77 TTer.
Yet another TTer? Certainly not! Stefan is more than a TTer, as he handles uphills - especially shorter ones - pretty well, and can even handle some cobbles. His energy level may not seem great, but we think that his well-roundedness will make up for this. Küng (yes, we insist on the umlaut, even if there's none in the MGUCI database) won the Benelux challenge last year, and podiumed twice in the Tour of Northern Europe before.
Unfortuantely for him, neither of these races - nor Arenberg, where he finished 3rd last year - will be on our calendar, given our lack of cobblers. But we're sure he'll discover quite a few races where he and his fellow TTers could have some fun! We're definitely looking forward to this year with him on board!
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
Really good moves indeed. I'm glad you got Kung after chasing him for so long. Curious to see if you can get that one big name you've been going for in this window, got my fingers crossed for you!
But yeah, I guess there are 2-3 good years left for that squad, enough time for a gradual rebuild I hope.
Could be something else next year, though, looks like he'll have a ridiculous OVL if it isn't fixed by then (which I hope it will be)...
Xuban Errazkin | 27 y.o. | lvl 4.max | € 160,000 wage | pot. 6
Giorgi Tediashvili | 24 y.o. | lvl 4 | € 50,000 wage | pot. 6
