One of the coolest HQ threads (and kit) around. Even managed to bring back the_hoyle (hey mate!) for a cameo!
Should be fun if we could strike a deal this season, but as it stands I guess only plan Z.v27 would entice me to. You never know though. Good luck, out there!
Great to read through your history post as always! Areruya is on top for most of it, and he'll be Superman by the team he hangs up his boots
Don't think we've ever had a transfer deal so far, and don't think that'll change this time either but curious to find out your direction with the decent cap space and further potential sales.
A slow start to transfers as the team charged into the FA market with proper verve for the first time since 2020, and promptly got their asses kicked. Seems we're a little out of practice. Still, the team managed three very good signings who we are excited to present as the first new riders for Xero in 2025!
Daniel Paulus 32 | Maxed | 50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
69
74
77
64
71
68
73
56
62
71
73
67
64
Daniel Paulus is an experienced veteran who has been part of successful set-ups at every level of the sport - Kraftwerk, T-Mobile, Europcar, Tajford, and most recently Ekoi - and still has some juice left in him. He will ride closely with Joseph Areruya for much of this season, giving our guy his first real lieutenant during his time at Xero. A specialist on the shorter climbs but more than capable in the mountains, he'll be an invaluable asset for the squad in 2025.
Dylan Redy 26 | Maxed | 50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
71
71
74
70
73
71
72
65
69
71
69
66
72
Dylan Redy, formerly of Podium Ambition and Cedevita, signs with us and is a rider with his best years still ahead of him, and is an asset on all terrains. Powerful on the flat, over hills and mountains and with a burst of speed, he will probably spend invaluable days riding for every leader in the squad and hopefully some days for himself as well, as his skillset lends itself well to breakaways. Young and African, we don't see any reason why Redy can't go on to have a long and successful career at Xero.
Daniel Felipe Martinez 29 | Maxed | 140,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
66
77
72
73
72
73
73
53
64
69
65
69
72
Another Daniel, Daniel Felipe Martinez is most recently of the dearly departed ISA - Hexacta squad, so you know he's doing something right with his career. A Colombian climber but don't let that fool you - he knows his way around a TT bike and has an engine. His role on the team remains yet to be defined, but whether it's serving as a lieutenant to Areruya, Fouche, someone else, or even chasing his own chances, we're confident Martinez will be a great addition who could even make himself a fixture of the squad over the next five years.
While the team worked on the leadership and trades situation, three veteran riders with plenty more to give joined the squad through Free Agency. Interestingly, all three are the first rider born in their nation in Xero history.
Michael Valgren Andersen 33 | Maxed | 50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
69
54
63
76
72
73
65
53
50
64
65
61
76
Michael Valgren Andersen is a proven time trial specialist who has been part of some great TTT set-ups. This year's won't be among then, but he should still provide some valuable experience and will go a long way to providing some sort of respectability to our squad when we do have to participate in such stages.
Mateo Frankovic 31 | Maxed | 60,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
74
62
71
64
71
78
70
67
74
76
66
71
66
Mateo Frankovic is a classically Xero rouleur, a rider we have always admired and are very pleased to welcome to our squad to lead us in the flat classics along with Novardianto and Tesfaye Heyi as well as being a quality breakaway rider on flat to bumpy stages.
Volodymyr Dzhus 32 | Maxed | 50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
65
76
70
64
74
74
68
55
58
75
70
63
64
Volodymyr Dzhus likes to go up mountains - the longer, the better. Always a valued type of rider to join a team at this level, he'll be a key man for many leaders across the season, bringing his experience at multiple levels and on some of cycling's toughest passes which will be invaluable during races or at training camps.
Some very solid signings, especially like Frankovic and had him on my list as well. Nice group and always good to have some local heroes from different places
knockout wrote:
Some very solid signings, especially like Frankovic and had him on my list as well. Nice group and always good to have some local heroes from different places
Definitely been a focus of ours for the past few years to obtain as many passports as we can, with a lot of success. Frankovic is definitely in the Evonik mould so no surprise you like him
After not being eligible to participate in U23 events for the first time last season, it was once again back to the old Xero in free agency, looking to sign some of the next generation in what looked like a wildly stacked talent pool. Everyone else had the same plan, and some unfortunate developments in the hunt for leaders meant a lot of our focus had to shift back to the here and now. Still, two talents were signed - a future leader from sunny Spain, and one of the brightest young Kiwi talents of his generation. Both have an unusual specialisation for a Xero rider, and were among five or six talents we bid on with such a skillset. They call it trial timing or something like that?
Nate Pringle 22 | 1.00XP | 55,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
69
60
66
69
68
67
64
65
63
64
70
64
68
76
61
69
78
73
74
71
65
63
64
75
65
77
We're not sure about other countries, but when we imagine high school sport in New Zealand one of the most important to many is rowing, and one of the images you associate with those rowers is them on their bikes as both warm-up, cool-down and transport from their early-morning training sessions. Sometimes, being on the bike so much makes you realise you're actually a lot better during these portions than you are on the water. Nate Pringle had that realisation, and has decided to make the switch full-time to road cycling.
Hopefully he can be a little less of a future Morne van Niekerk, thanklessly leading a weak time trial department, and instead be a key piece of a respectable future TTT set-up. He will spend this year on loan at one of our frequent loan partners, Ekoi - Le Creuset, where we know (because we trust them but also because we paid extra) he'll get the best treatment and come back a much-improved rider with a lot of experience.
Ivan Romeo 22 | 1.00XP | 250,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FT
DH
PL
68
68
68
70
70
68
68
55
60
63
68
71
70
71
77
73
77
77
73
75
55
60
64
69
72
77
Perhaps not as good as Pringle in a pure flat time trial, Ivan Romeo (who we're sure will be the subject of many jokes related to the great poets W. Shakespeare and T. Swift during the next ten years at Xero, so we'll refrain for now) more than makes up for that with his equal ability in mountains. We didn't know people were allowed to do that, haven for one year had the two worst time triallists among those rated 80 or higher in the mountains on our squad, and many of our other climbing specialists not knowing their aero bars from their disc wheels either.
We are very excited for Romeo's development and he should be a future leader for us, both as a great stage racer for races with TT influence, but also in the Slovenie, Ukraine, or Tasmania-style races which we thought had become really common recently but apparently have always been on the PTHC calendar in the bands we never picked before this year. However he won't be riding them for us just yet, as much like Pringle he is out on loan to the PCT, this time for our recurring transfer rivals Bolt - Eesti. Given our overlapping taste in riders, we trust them quite a lot with his development, despite having never made a direct deal in our ten-year history until now.
SotD wrote:
Very nice combination of talents there! Romeo was high on my list, but couldn't find the funds quickly enough
Thanks a lot! Was surprised at his affordability relative to some others in that range, definitely think you aren't the only team that would have bid me up higher if it wasn't shut within a few days
Late in transfers as the team looked to fill out roster slots, we were delighted with the opportunity to sign not only two riders of real quality and experience, but also two heroes of our middle years, who promoted us (in one case, twice) from the PCT and are forever etched in our history books and near the top of some of our all-time leaderboards.
Stanislau Bazhkou 34 | Maxed | 50,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
69
67
73
74
70
72
66
51
61
61
65
59
74
Xero Palmarès
- 4x Belarussian TT Champs ('18-21)
- 6th GC Post Danmark Rundt ('18)
- 2x Belarussian RR Champs ('18, '20)
- 8th GC Tour of Britain ('20)
- 3rd GC Tour of Ukraine ('18)
- 9th GC Tour of Norway ('18)
Rankings History
Year
Points
Division Rank
Team Rank
Division
2018
278
75th
4th
PCT
2019
111
157th
8th
PCT
2020
77
196th
7th
PCT
2021
115
281st
12th
PT
Xero Stats
Best
Rank
Best
Rank
Seasons
4
=11th
Points/€
€491
€270 ('18)
5th
Points
581
278 ('18)
11th
Breakaways
3
=30th
Wins
0
RDs
263
70 ('21)
11th
Wage
€285,000
€75,000 ('18)
19th
RotM
2
2 ('18)
=10th
Stanislau Bazhkou joins us for a fifth season in Xero colours - though as always he'll spend the time trials in the colours of Belarus, being a consistent champion there, winning four from four during his original tenure with us and also adding two road race titles for good measure, being our winningest rider in professional NCs. Best known here for his marvellous 2018 season, arriving from his great year with the iconic Isostar class of 2017 and immediately showing us how a hybrid team in the PCT does it. Though he never reached those heights again he remained a key part of our 2019 and 2020 teams, eventually helping us to promotion and spending a year with us in the Pro Tour. Such a great rider to have due to being possibly our best wage-to-points efficiency leader ever after Roux, this season he will still be using his skills uphill and on the TT bike, but now in a domestique capacity.
He'll have plenty of wisdom to pass to the likes of Herregodts and Romeo during training camps, as well as reuniting with Morne van Niekerk as one of the thankless leaders of our possibly worse-than-when-he-left TTT squad. Stanislau has raced at the top of every level and is an invaluable asset to any squad with his knowledge and skills.
Hugo Houle 35 | Maxed | 88,000
FLA
MON
HIL
TT
STA
RES
REC
COB
SPR
ACC
FTR
DH
PRL
74
62
71
65
70
65
70
61
75
72
66
65
65
Xero Palmarès
- GC Euskal Bizikleta ('22)
- 8th GC Benelux Challenge (’20)
- Stage Win Volta a Portugal (’19)
- 8th GP Lugano (’23)
- Stage Win Tour de Slovenie (’19)
- 9th GC Tour of Northern Europe (’20)
- Stage Win Tour Down Under (’20)
- Points Tour de Suisse (’21)
- Stage Win Tour of South Africa (’19)
- Points Tour of South Africa (’19)
- Stage Win Euskal Bizikleta ('22)
- Points Euskal Bizikleta ('22)
- 31x Other Stage Podiums (’19-23)
- 2nd Points Jelajah SKL (’19)
- Canadian RR Championships (’21)
- 2nd Points Tour of South Africa (’20)
- 2x 2nd Frankfurt Eschborn ('19, '23)
- 4th Points Tour de France (’21)
- 2x 2nd GC Tour Down Under (’20, '22)
- Lead GC Tour de France (’21)
- 2nd GC Tour of South Africa (’20)
- Lead GC Volta a Portugal (’19)
- 3rd GC Euskal Bizikleta ('23)
- Lead GC Tour Down Under (’20)
- 4th GP Lugano ('22)
- Lead GC Tour of South Africa (’19)
- 4th GC Tour of South Africa (’19)
- Lead GC Euskal Bizikleta ('22)
- 7th GC Jelajah SKL (’19)
Rankings History
Year
Points
Division Rank
Team Rank
Division
2019
457
42nd
2nd
PCT
2020
442
54th
5th
PCT
2021
652
53rd
2nd
PT
2022
590
19th
2nd
PCT
2023
257
78th
4th
PCT
Xero Stats
Best
Rank
Best
Rank
Seasons
5
=8th
Points/€
€596
€383 ('21)
13th
Points
2399
653 ('21)
3rd
Jerseys
3
1
4th
Wins
6
3 ('19)
5th
RDs
243
57 ('21)
=13th
Wage
€1,429,000
€409,000 ('19)
4th
RotM
7
3 ('22)
=3rd
Hugo Houle is a Xero legend. Enough said. The numbers above tell the story - while many newer may think of Pidcock as already a clear #3 in the list of the team's greatest ever, the real ones know about Hugo Houle. The first Xero rider to wear the maillot jaune, one of the key leaders of the team for over half of our history, who even after declining still gave it all scoring key points to secure his second promotion. Subtract under a minute from his total GCs and he could be a 5-time stage race winner for us, a perennial bridesmaid in races such as the Tour Down Under until eventually tasting sweet victory in the 2022 Euskal Bizikleta. We'll save the full retrospective for his retirement, but just so all the PT-only followers know - this is the man right here.
We thought a romantic departure with a podium in the Euskal Bizikleta effectively securing our promotion before returning to the CT to join a new Canadian team in Cervelo, the phoenix from the ashes of RBC who he rode most of his pre-Xero career for, was a perfect send-off for Hugo. He was still a force in a leadership role at that level, 45th in the individual rankings. Now age 35, he parted ways with the team in renewals and was able to rejoin Xero in free agency for what may be the final season of his career. Though no longer one of the world's best hilly sprinters, we still believe his skillset has aged quite naturally into being a brilliant domestique and, hopefully, a breakaway rider, with his power on flats and hills still being there and his former lead sprinter-abilities turning into a great kick for KoMs or stage finishes. We know there's another magic moment or two in Hugo Houle - and if we're wrong, the worst case is one of the team's absolute greatest riders gets to go out in his beloved jersey and provide power and experience to the team, passing knowledge to the next generation. We love you Hugo, we're so glad to have you back where you belong - let's get to work!
We don't get to talk in transfers enough but I always enjoy it when we do. Let me know how your plans go 
Daniel Paulus
Dylan Redy
Daniel Felipe Martinez
Michael Valgren Andersen
Mateo Frankovic
Volodymyr Dzhus
Nate Pringle
Ivan Romeo
Stanislau Bazhkou
Hugo Houle
