Contract negotiations were tough this year knowing that we would have to let a lot of riders go in order to downscale from PCT to CT while also trying to keep the leaders to secure quick promotion.
A special thanks goes out to
Branislav Samoilev and
Jukka Vastaranta who both looks to retirement after giving a lot to our project.
Ever since he signed with Agritubel in 2008 he have been the posterboy for Finnish cycling but now things have come to an end - even legends gets older.
Without him there probably wouldn't even be a Finnish team and we hope to keep him around to help the youngsters follow in his footsteps.
Samoilev joined us the same season as
Vastaranta and have been a top class helper in all terrains even capable of getting some results for himself. We wish him the best of luck in the future be it in retirement or a mentoring roll on a CT team.
Another profile that leaves us are
Ivano Lo Cicero, who didn't even get an offer after his appalling season.
The toughest part was probably regarding the Finnish part of the team.
We want to keep a strong Finnish presence, but on the long term we needs to get back up to PCT as that is the best place to do talent development.
Because of that we focused on securing the strongest Finn on each terrain as well as keeping the biggest talent close.
Roope Nurmi and
Hiski Kanerva were never close to getting a new contract and with the relegation
Vainionpää lost his shot at a full contract as well.
Oskari is still young though so could still have a shot at getting back in the game at a later point.
Three Finnish riders were released despite being the best they will ever be.
We would have loved to keep
Henttala,
Halme and Finnish champion
Tiainen, but the puzzle of budget and spots on the team just didnt add up. They all go straight to our shortlist though should the transfer season fall out in their advantage.
Three other riders go from our roster to our shortlist as well:
Brynjolfsson,
Arissol and
Kaislavuo.
All three managed to grab a win during the season and all three put to much weight on that on the contract negotiations. When the team economy is under as much pressure as ours is right now there is no room for sentimentality and overpaying for one good day seeing as none of these bagged enough points to warrant much more than minimum wage.
We have also let go of our Arabian division in
Gökhan Hasta and
Essa Khalifa.
Hasta is a very capable climber/stage racer who deserves a new contract somewhere and
Khalifa has a very nice spirit to his riding and if given the chance he will become a very capable helper on hilly terrain.
Both leave with our recommendations.
Khalifa has a tendency of getting released in contract negotiations and then somehow ending up on the team anyway so who knows what will happen in the transfer season?
The Swedes will sadly both be leaving as well.
Höög simply isn't strong enough to get a spot when we need to make room for Finnish talent.
Lindau was released due to an administrative error and will go on our shortlist as a potential helper for hilly terrain.
The final rider to leave us is Lithuanian TT-talent
Raimondas Rumsas. We were happy to help him develop a bit this season. However in the current situation it was hard to find a spot for him to stay - especially as he also noted the license given to a new Lithuanian team where he could become a central rider in future plans.
A big part of why he wasn't resigned was that he needs to ride the next season in PCT to develop properly and I already have Joni Kanerva that I need to find a loan deal for.
Some really big names, if you don't get struck by bad luck clear contender for promotion 
