Some good wage cuts, but as red said, 10/20 with just 500k left means not much room for additional more-than-50k-riders - so I might be tempted to find out if I get the "right price" for one of your renewed riders
The plan was to keep Eastman and sell Debesay, but you know what they say about transfer season plans don't you? Eastman received heaps of enquiries while the Eritrean Roubaix vice-champion received absolutely zero.
Our TTists received their usual harassment and this time we caved in to let go of Howson and trading a disapointing first-maxed-year Razumov for puncheur Guerreiro.
In that department there came the unique opportunity for acquiring the services of wonderkid Stannard in exchange for wondergranpa Bobridge and few pennies
Younglings started pouring in from the free-agency, while the younger GC leader the team seeked continued to evade us. Eventually we settled for Nikias Arndt who later saw Inkelaar arrive (as a loanee) to bolster our climbing strength. Petit came in the same deal from Polar, joining Hayakawa as our poster sprinter.
In the end we had to secure the services of two stagiares to reach our minimum rider limit. And btw any relation between Ruben Guerreiro and the hiring of his younger brother can only be a product of your imagination.
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
XP
Age
Pot
R Stannard
73
73
79
67
75
76
74
67
69
78
74
69
68
4.100
25
6
M Debesay
75
67
74
72
75
79
70
79
69
78
73
74
74
4.100
32
4
N Arndt
71
79
76
56
77
76
72
63
71
75
61
64
56
4.100
32
6
R Guerreiro
71
76
77
62
73
73
77
63
72
72
61
67
62
4.100
29
4
K Inkelaar*
64
80
70
64
75
76
79
56
60
74
69
69
64
4.100
26
3
T Hayakawa
73
63
65
50
75
68
76
57
79
79
75
73
50
4.100
31
5
A Petit
75
51
64
60
74
70
76
71
79
76
64
67
65
4.100
33
5
S Henao
65
76
76
66
71
73
71
53
63
70
68
67
64
4.100
30
5
E A Rachid
70
77
70
74
73
73
76
58
62
68
69
66
73
4.100
28
5
Z Sipos
69
68
70
76
75
73
70
55
61
64
70
67
77
4.100
32
3
A Kulikovskiy
72
64
71
64
69
73
77
60
76
77
65
67
66
4.84
26
3
N Vahtra
71
58
70
55
73
72
70
74
74
72
68
65
55
4.88
27
4
N Zegklis
70
69
71
64
71
72
70
65
67
71
76
77
64
3.0
27
3
R Quaade
70
53
62
77
70
68
63
58
60
61
65
59
75
4.100
33
4
S Montenegro
67
66
72
63
68
70
69
62
63
70
68
66
63
3.6
25
6
K Orosco
68
72
69
67
71
65
69
60
63
64
67
63
64
3.57
24
4
C Kusi
69
64
70
73
67
71
72
61
64
68
72
67
73
3.44
27
2
J Ponce
66
68
69
68
66
69
70
64
62
66
68
68
68
2.2
26
5
A A Diaz Suarez
66
65
68
62
65
70
64
64
64
69
64
73
61
1.0
22
5
F Guerreiro**
68
60
62
57
68
66
69
58
68
69
65
61
57
1.0
23
5
E Eiriksson**
65
55
56
60
70
65
63
62
63
65
60
66
62
1.0
22
7
*Loan-in **Stagiare
Our roster for the 2023 season seems a bit short for what could be expected I guess. Selling Eastman didn't really please our sponsors, especially after deciding almost all our goals with him in mind. Training funds were spent on Rachid to try and offset this as much as possible.
Elias Abou Rachid 4.100 28yo
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
75
70
74
73
73
76
58
62
68
69
66
73
↓↓↓
70
77
70
74
73
73
76
58
62
68
69
66
73
The TTT prowess of the team is shattered and much like everyone else the rejuvenating aspect of squad-building was prioritised, but perhaps we took it a bit too far and failed in finding enough point-scoring alternatives for the sustainability of the team. Let's see what the season brings
Final stats
- 20 different nationalities
- Only 2 riders from the same nation (incidentally from the same womb as well)
- 1 rider from every continent (don't you start with technicalities)
- 71.4% of the squad is new
- 47.6% of the squad is unmaxed
- Average age: 27.6 y
- The most expensive stagiare of all-time continues with the team
- Only one red stat
- 8 released riders, of which only 1 didn't receive a contract (follow this space for other superb management skills)
Like the training on Rachid. Love seeing Orosco getting a new team, and Diaz Suarez getting a debut. Lots of changes for the team, mostly positive. Don't see any relegation worries but i forsee another big change next year looking at the ages of some of those leaders.
Really liking the look of the team. The uphill department with Stanndard, Arndt and Guerrerio are all super interesting riders that should bring in some points. Some big wages there though with Stannard’s max season and Debesay still coming down from last year, but that should be remedied next season. The late addition of Inkelaar should work really well for you too.
Although there’s lots of change, I still think with the right planning you should have a very successful season and push for promotion.
Lots of changes, but that was expected. Stannard is an awesome young rider to build around and can be trained next season to grow into a top puncheur
Apart from that it's a solid team all around, but might be short of competing for promotion. I'm not a huge fan of the Rachid training, but given some of the conversations we had I can understand it
Well it seems I forgot someone in the transfers, specifically, Santiago Montenegro. I do regret it quite a bit but I am glad though he gets a ride this season and who knows in the future perhaps we'll cross paths again. Until then, I am following with interest his career with your team since I do have a fondness for this rider.
Good luck in the new season!
@TMM: Yeah I guess change has become part of the yearly routine, so it's to be expected next year. Maybe we could talk then and see if any of my caribbean youngsters want to go home
@Eden: Thanks. Interesting riders indeed, but in my view will be lacking that top-end sort of result we would need to have a tranquil season. Hope you're right though
@red: Stannard looks juicy for the future indeed, let's see if I can convince others to give me the money I will need for that venture. Strategy-wise it probably wasn't the best decision to leave for the end of transfers the task of finding a reasonably-strong young GC rider. But you know, some managers like to hoard said sort of riders!
@DW: Hey, definitely felt lucky to pick Montenegro on a minimum wage. Glad you missed him! I'm always open to help riders find a home with their regional teams so let's see what the future brings.
National Champion jerseys
It's that time of the year when everything else looks to be sorted, which means it's time to turn to our kit designer to ask for some more of their graphic magic:
NC
RR
TT
Eritrea
Mekseb Debesay
Mekseb Debesay
Lebanon
Elias Abou Rachid
Elias Abou Rachid
Denmark
-
Rasmus Quaade
Hungary
-
Zoltan Sipos
Again, thanks to Eezefreak for these awesome designs!
Despite the changes you made it's still a strong team you've put together (haven't really seen the other contenders yet though). And lead by a Xero icon in Debesay and a Xero baby in Stannard I have to root for you even if it's still painful to see them in different jerseys, want to see them succeed
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
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
