[PCT '22] Philips - Force India
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Fabianski |
Posted on 08-06-2023 13:42
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Grand Tour Specialist
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I can only echo the others, great final dash for your team, getting up from (almost) relegation zone to Top 10! And maybe even to PT? I do hope that not all the potential disbands will indeed happen, but I'm afraid it's more likely than not... (nothing against you ofc, but hoping to keep as many managers on board as possible).
Tour of America was great for you, starting with day 1 - and pretty much until day 20. Choi was pretty much beaten on bonus seconds (according to my maths, Bennett, got 20" more than Choi), and furthermore had one really bad day in the MTT. Shit happens, I'd say... Losing green on the last day - by simply not sprinting - was ugly to watch, but that's the PCM mechanics, can't put it otherwise. You still scored pretty big, and that trip to North America was worth it all I'd say
And your team was impressive to watch in Emilia, being really dominant (alongside Trans), and Benoot finishing off the team's work in style. I think Benoot really was great in the hilly races in general, but left some points on the road in cobbled races.
Choi and Penasa also did what you expected them to do; maybe a planning not including ToA would have seen Choi score a little more, but he did well anyway.
So, why didn't you promote? I guess one of the main reasons is TvA. You mentioned that he didn't do anything useful all season long - except for ToA, where he missed out on green by a ridiculous margin after getting quite some stage podiums. Had he performed that well all year long, you'd probably have ended up on an automatic promotion spot. Maybe Minali could have contributed a little more as well, so I think the sprinters did hold you back a bit.
Furthermore, TT-heavy races and flat cobbles weren't well covered by your team - I guess you mostly tried to avoid those races, but with mandatory bands that's not easy.
All in all, you do certainly have a great core - and if you don't get promotion now, I'm sure you'll do next year Good luck for the offseason anyway!
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 08-06-2023 18:10
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
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@Fab: I was planning to post a season review tomorrow but you did most of my job already
Agree with most of what you say including the ToA analysis. Although I do think that if Choi had performed as expected just on that MTT, he'd have won the race! As to the others, only two points of difference is that I am actually quite happy with what Minali got as a 100k sprinter. Wasn't expecting too much more. The other would be that I was a bit disappointed with Eenkhoorn's season. Don't know if that's justified or it's just me having unrealistic expectations because I built him up as a talent! As for the terrains, cobbles was hard to predict with wins and no shows all included. Other than that, I think the rest went as expected with Benoot probably outdoing expectations. TvA did underperform for the rest of the season but made it up with ToA, so can't complain too much about that either.
Agree with you in hoping that we don't have too many disbands. Doesn't help the game even though the current announcements probably help me in the short term.
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-06-2023 08:42
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
Joined: 27-07-2015
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Our best ever season comes to a close and it is now time to look back at how it went. We finished 8th this time, a massive leap of 11 spots from the relegation threatened 19th place finish last time. A great way for our current sponsors to sign off...
Race | Category | Goal | Result | Tour du Suisse | PTHC | Top 5 | 5th | Tour of the Battenkill | PTHC | Top 10 | 40th | Vuelta a Colombia | PTHC | Top 10 | 5th | Tour of America | C1 | Win | 2nd | PCT Team Standings | PCT | Top 5 | 8th |
* Green means Goal Achieved. Red means Goal Failed.Our prime target for the off season was to get a PCT leader stage racer and we set goals accordingly, with three of the four goal races being stage races. We were able to achieve two of them and missed the Win goal by a single position. Battenkill proved to be our undoing. It was an ambitious goal to start with! Our standings goal was also ambitious, as we did not really have a squad to make it. We got close in the end, falling short by three positions.
Race | Category | Points | RDs | PpRD | Tour of America | C1 | 466 | 21 | 22.19 | Tour du Maroc | HC | 219 | 6 | 36.50 | Giro dell'Emilia | HC | 162 | 2 | 81.00 | Vuelta a Colombia | PTHC | 150 | 6 | 25.00 | Tour de Suisse | PTHC | 140 | 7 | 20.00 | Cheshire Cycling Tour | PTHC | 132 | 2 | 66.00 | Benelux Challenge | HC | 126 | 6 | 21.00 | Tour Down Under | HC | 125 | 6 | 20.83 | Tour of East Java | PTHC | 122 | 4 | 30.50 | Strade Bianche | HC | 98 | 2 | 49.00 | Criterium du Dauphine Libere | PTHC | 97 | 8 | 12.13 | 1 Jour de Dunkerque | C1 | 83 | 2 | 41.50 | Post Danmark Rundt | HC | 76 | 5 | 15.20 | Circulo de Juarez | HC | 66 | 5 | 13.20 | Tour d'Andorra | C1 | 65 | 5 | 13.00 | Japan Cup | PTHC | 62 | 2 | 31.00 | Tour of California | C2 | 61 | 7 | 8.71 | Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt | HC | 56 | 7 | 8.00 | Tour of Ukraine | PTHC | 49 | 3 | 16.33 | Pro Hallstatt Classic | HC | 45 | 2 | 22.50 | GP Kigali | C1 | 44 | 2 | 22.00 | Tour of South Africa | C1 | 42 | 6 | 7.00 | Paris Tours | PTHC | 39 | 2 | 19.50 | Viana do Castelo | C1 | 37 | 2 | 18.50 | Tour de Romandie | C1 | 34 | 6 | 5.67 | Omloop Het Nieuwsblad | HC | 28 | 2 | 14.00 | Milano - Torino | C1 | 28 | 2 | 14.00 | Bayern Rundfahrt | HC | 22 | 4 | 5.50 | Lillestrom GP | C1 | 20 | 2 | 10.00 | Tour of Chile | C1 | 16 | 3 | 5.33 | GP Wallonie | HC | 15 | 2 | 7.50 | Le Samyn | HC | 10 | 2 | 5.00 | Badaling International | C1 | 8 | 2 | 4.00 | Philadelphia International Championship | PTHC | 8 | 2 | 4.00 | Down Under Classic | HC | 6 | 2 | 3.00 | Tour of the Battenkill | PTHC | 4 | 2 | 2.00 | Giro del Trentino | C2 | 3 | 3 | 1.00 | Great Ocean Road Classic | PTHC | 2 | 2 | 1.00 | Tour of Norway | HC | 0 | 5 | 0.00 | Clasica San Sebastian | PTHC | 0 | 2 | 0.00 |
Unlike last year, our PTHC performances took a little hit. We did much better in HC this time, which was a big factor in our climb up the standings. C1 and C2 returns were also solid without being spectatcular.
Month-Wise Points Progression | January | February | March | April | May | Points | 131 | 190 | 270 | 84 | 321 | RDs | 8 | 14 | 12 | 11 | 25 | PpRD | 16.38 | 13.57 | 22.50 | 7.64 | 12.84 | Rank | 16 | | 15 | 20 | | | June | July | August | September | October | Total | Points | 446 | 73 | 205 | 603 | 443 | 2766 | RDs | 27 | 7 | 16 | 33 | 10 | 163 | PpRD | 16.52 | 10.43 | 12.81 | 18.27 | 44.30 | 16.97 | Rank | 14 | 19 | 19 | 13 | 8 |
We languished in lower mid table, and even flirted with relegation for most of the season. A reason for this being ToA being on our schedule in the late season. We made for it in the last two months though, as has become something of a norm for us in the recent past.
That's it for this part of the season review. We will be back soon with Part 2 where we'll look at how our riders performed, provide some season statistics and present our awards for the season...
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 09-06-2023 08:42
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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In this part of our season review, we'll be taking a look at how our riders performed, present some statistics from our race performances and announce the awards for the season.
Rider Analysis - Points, PpRD and Ranking Rider | Points | PpRD | PCT Ranking | Tiesj Benoot | 784 | 19.60 | 8 | Ki Ho Choi | 533 | 13.67 | 26 | Pierre Paolo Penasa | 400 | 9.30 | 49 | Tom Van Asbroeck | 291 | 6.33 | 78 | Pascal Eenkhoorn | 157 | 3.34 | 121 | Riccardo Minali | 173 | 3.15 | 114 | William Barta | 80 | 1.31 | 191 | Cristian Raileanu | 57 | 1.14 | 227 | Simone Velasco | 57 | 1.04 | 226 | Shiki Kuroeda | 54 | 0.95 | 237 | Tom Dumoulin | 39 | 0.60 | 268 | Saya Kuroeda | 29 | 0.55 | 307 | Dan McLay | 26 | 0.39 | 319 | Yannick Stoltz | 26 | 0.33 | 320 | Jan Xandri | 16 | 0.27 | 366 | Gijs Leemreize | 18 | 0.24 | 355 | Joonas Henttala | 12 | 0.16 | 387 | Clement Champoussin | 7 | 0.10 | 421 | Mick Van Dijke | 4 | 0.05 | 452 | Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez | 3 | 0.03 | 462 |
Our best PpRD last season was in single digits and look at Benoot now. Even with a ToA hamstring season, Choi did well. A rare season where our four leaders stand on top of the PpRD standings! Benoot creates a new record of the most points scored by a rider in a single season for us. Every rider scored points, which is also very pleasing.
Rider Analysis - Wage/Point Rider | Points | Wage | Wage/Points | Tiesj Benoot | 784 | 375000 | 478.32 | Riccardo Minali | 173 | 100000 | 578.03 | Pierre Paolo Penasa | 400 | 240000 | 600.00 | Tom Van Asbroeck | 291 | 195000 | 670.10 | Ki Ho Choi | 533 | 410000 | 769.23 | Pascal Eenkhoorn | 157 | 150000 | 955.41 | William Barta | 80 | 90000 | 1125.00 | Tom Dumoulin | 39 | 50000 | 1282.05 | Shiki Kuroeda | 54 | 90000 | 1666.67 | Yannick Stoltz | 26 | 50000 | 1923.08 | Simone Velasco | 57 | 115000 | 2017.54 | Cristian Raileanu | 57 | 125000 | 2192.98 | Dan McLay | 26 | 65000 | 2500.00 | Gijs Leemreize | 18 | 50000 | 2777.78 | Saya Kuroeda | 29 | 100000 | 3448.28 | Joonas Henttala | 12 | 50000 | 4166.67 | Jan Xandri | 16 | 95000 | 5937.50 | Clement Champoussin | 7 | 90000 | 12857.14 | Oscar Samuel Galvan Ramirez | 3 | 50000 | 16666.67 | Mick Van Dijke | 4 | 80000 | 20000.00 |
Benoot rules the roost here as well with his insane season. A surprising name in second is Minali, which goes to show just how good his return was given his current wage. Penasa with another great season is 3rd on this list. Perhaps the two disappointments here are Saya Kuroeda and Jan Xandri, who underperformed quite a lot.
Stage Race - 0
Best Result: 2nd, Tour of America - Ki Ho Choi, Tour du Maroc - Pierre Paolo Penasa
Classics - 2
1 Jour du Dunkerque - Tiesj Benoot
Giro dell'Emillia - Tiesj Benoot
Stages - 4
Tom Van Asbroeck - 2
Ki Ho Choi, Riccardo Minali - 1 each
Points Classification - 0
Best Result: 2nd, Tour of America - Tom Van Asbroeck
KOM Classification - 0
Best Result: 3rd, Post Danmark Rundt - Simone Velasco
U25s Classification - 0
Best Result: Best Result: 2nd, Tour of East Java - Pascal Eenkhoorn
Team Classification - 0
Best Result: 4th - Tour of America
The full list of achievements can be viewed here.
Spoiler Tiesj Benoot
Signing and training Benoot has been one of the best off season decisions we have ever made. He broke the record for the most points scored for us by a rider in a single season, picking up two classics victories along the way. A special mention the Pierre Paolo Penasa for again reaching the 400 point mark, despite not having the most suited races as our second climber.
Spoiler Pascal Eenkhoorn
Despite not having the best of times, Eenkhoorn was still better than all other U25s in the team by a comfortable margin. We hope that he can further improve when he gets further leadership opportunities in the future. This is also the first time ever that a loaned in rider has not won this award for us!
Spoiler Giro dell'Emillia
There were a few good candidates to win this, with Tour of America, 1 Jour de Dunkerque and Tour du Maroc high on that list, but we had to go for the season ending classic in Italy which we absolutely dominated as a team, and delivered Benoot to the best result possible. It also meant we moved into the Top 10 in the standings.
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Ulrich Ulriksen |
Posted on 10-06-2023 00:17
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 3266
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Great call on the race of the year, that was an awesome team performance.
Barta looks like failure to me, would offload him.
Man Game: McCormick Pro Cycling
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Ad Bot |
Posted on 28-11-2024 05:58
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baseballlover312 |
Posted on 10-06-2023 17:24
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Tour de France Champion
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Joined: 27-07-2011
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Benoot ended up being quite the investment, and with that final season push and some of the unfortunate disbandment news, promotion seems to be right here.
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
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redordead |
Posted on 12-06-2023 07:49
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4884
Joined: 18-10-2017
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Great season! One of the few things I predicted correctly
I was also happy to 'lend a hand' in Emilia since it seems to have secured promotion for you
"I am a cyclist, I may not be the best, but that is what I strive to be. I may never get there, but I will never quit trying." - Tadej Pogačar
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jandal7 |
Posted on 12-06-2023 12:22
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World Champion
Posts: 11395
Joined: 17-12-2014
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Glad to see Emilia recognised as the race of the year, absolutely stellar team effort to deliver Tiesj and also gain the depth points for that stunning rankings jump. And as always enjoy your various stats at the end of each season
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
5x x5
2x x2
2x x2
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liefwarrior |
Posted on 13-06-2023 02:51
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 864
Joined: 04-07-2019
PCM$: 300.00
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That Emilia race really was quite something! Great to see you making the most of Benoot's abilities with that mixed schedule and no doubt his performances are made all the sweeter by the contrast with Kelderman. Congrats on a solid season.
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Nemolito |
Posted on 13-06-2023 07:30
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
PCM$: 425.00
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From almost relegating to very probably promoting in like a month, a remontada even Liverpool couldn't improve upon. It's a pleasure following your team, and I'm really looking forward to seeing you next season in PT or PCT. Congratulations on the wise Benoot decision(s), as well as having a (now) regional superstar in Choi and the cheeky Kuroeda brothers to represent Japan on the cobbles.
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 14-06-2023 10:10
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Ulrich: Yeah Emillia was a great team effort, something we tend to do only very rarely! If that eventually gets us promoted, then it's a no-brainer choice really. Au contraire, I think Barta did quite well
@bbl: Didn't think Benoot would do this well even! Without jumping the gun on promotion yet, Benoot did power to our best ever season comfortably.
@red: Thanks We did overachieve a bit I think but it's satisfying to be able improve on last season. We'll see about promotion as it's not confirmed yet. But will be a nice story especially after all the pain Beltran has given our punchers over the years
@jandal: Thanks Emillia was indeed one of our best efforts, probably ever, as a team, and rounded off with the win.
@liefwarrior: Yes Emilia was great! Glad the Benoot moves worked out. Couldn't have asked for much more from him really. Definitely an improvement to previous years.
@Nemolito: Well we're not confirmed to be promoting yet, but we'll see. Liverpool's recent remontada's were not that hard to beat Thanks on the nice words and same here
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knockout |
Posted on 18-06-2023 13:28
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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Brilliant end to the season for you and congrats for a team record high finish in the rankings. Looking back at our season prediction, im glad that i showed confidence in your team. Hesitated for a while because i knew it might look like an overly positive one but i had a good feeling this team setup would finally click for you.
Two achieved goals, two close misses and a healthy age structure amongst your leaders should give you some nice room to work with towards your new focus.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 19-06-2023 07:32
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
Joined: 27-07-2015
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@knockout: Truth be told, we weren't expecting to finish this high and a top half finish was our target but the season end really did propel us close to your prediction! I'm guessing we'll end up in the middle range of the budget spectrum with what we achieved. We do have some rebuilding to do given a couple of leaders are declining or on the verge of it. Looking forward to jumping into the new era though
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 22-06-2023 08:50
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Directeur Sportif
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It's the end of the year. Our talents have gained significant experience throughout the same and are ready to take the next step(s) in the development. We take a look at them below:
Ide Schelling | Age: 25 | Pot: 5 | Lvl: 4.100 | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FT | DH | PR | 2022 stats | 71 | 75 | 71 | 68 | 74 | 73 | 70 | 63 | 62 | 67 | 72 | 67 | 70 | 2023/Max Stats | 72 | 77 | 72 | 70 | 76 | 74 | 72 | 63 | 62 | 67 | 72 | 67 | 72 |
Ide Schelling reaches his full potential after a year out on loan in the PT with Huski. He should be an important part of our mountain train going ahead.
Gijs Leemreize | Age: 23 | Pot: 6 | Lvl: 4 | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FT | DH | PR | 2022 stats | 65 | 73 | 71 | 64 | 68 | 71 | 70 | 60 | 62 | 68 | 71 | 66 | 64 | 2023 Stats | 66 | 76 | 74 | 65 | 69 | 73 | 72 | 60 | 62 | 70 | 74 | 67 | 65 | Potential Stats | 66 | 78 | 76 | 65 | 70 | 74 | 74 | 60 | 62 | 72 | 76 | 68 | 65 |
Our next potential climbing leader is just a step away from reaching his full potential. Leemreize has been taking small but significant steps in his development with us over the past couple of seasons and we look forward to continue seeing him grow. He should be a great asset for the future.
Marten Kooistra | Age: 25 | Pot: 4 | Lvl: 4 | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FT | DH | PR | 2022 stats | 72 | 59 | 64 | 58 | 70 | 67 | 58 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 2023 Stats | 75 | 60 | 65 | 59 | 72 | 69 | 60 | 69 | 74 | 74 | 63 | 63 | 64 | Potential Stats | 77 | 60 | 65 | 59 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 70 | 76 | 76 | 63 | 63 | 64 |
Kooistra started off as a slow burner, but is now shaping up into a very useful rider on the flat roads and more. He is destined to become the first ever roleur talent to come out of the (erstwhile) Philips talent factory. He spent the 2022 season in the PT with Aegon.
Mick Van Dijke | Age: 22 | Pot: 4 | Lvl: 3 | FL | MO | HI | TT | ST | RS | RC | CO | SP | AC | FT | DH | PR | 2022 stats | 68 | 67 | 70 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 68 | 67 | 70 | 68 | 70 | 71 | 70 | 2023 Stats | 68 | 70 | 73 | 70 | 72 | 73 | 70 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 72 | 71 | 71 | Potential Stats | 69 | 73 | 78 | 71 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 67 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 72 | 72 |
The next gen leader of Dutch punchers comes out of our talent pool and we're very excited about seeing him mature into his full potential.
For the first time in our history, all of our developing talents are Dutch. It is ironic that this comes in the season when our Dutch sponsors are leaving! Nonetheless, we do think all or most of them will have a future in our team next season.
We would like to thank Huski and Aegon for their help in developing our talents. We hope they were able to help you in your seasons and look forward to more possible associations in the future.
Edited by AbhishekLFC on 22-06-2023 09:28
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Nemolito |
Posted on 22-06-2023 08:55
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3367
Joined: 20-04-2020
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Some lovely talents! Schelling maxed should be a great asset for your mountain train indeed, whereas I love the future Van Dijke has for him as well. Kooistra should be a superb lead-out when maxed, whereas Leemreize is also a great Dutch asset. Galapagos is thinking it was stupid to give extra money to Los Pollos and should have gone to Philips with their cash instead. But hey, at least we got Hoole
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liefwarrior |
Posted on 22-06-2023 10:41
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Breakaway Specialist
Posts: 864
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Surely every Dutch rider has ridden at least one season in your colours, I swear every time I turn around there's a new talent finding his feet with this squad. Schelling and Leemreize look like excellent additions to the mountain train. Van Dijke to be the next Tiesj Benoot? Kooistra also appears a fun rider - just needs a sprinter to lead out.
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quadsas |
Posted on 22-06-2023 11:33
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Small Tour Specialist
Posts: 2518
Joined: 18-01-2013
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Ouch, Van Dijke has been absolutely RUINED, I knew I should've fought for him
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Fabianski |
Posted on 22-06-2023 20:55
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4670
Joined: 29-09-2018
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I thought the Netherlands didn't have real mountains, where do all those climbers come from? Schelling and Leemreize should definitely be some strong helpers for your stage race leaders. And Van Dijke is looking cool anyway, should be a well-balanced puncheur
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knockout |
Posted on 22-06-2023 22:13
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Grand Tour Champion
Posts: 7735
Joined: 21-12-2010
PCM$: 400.00
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You really had a cool group of dutch talents with this bunch as well as the guys that maxed last year already. Curious to see how long they will stay part of your project with the focus shifting away a bit.
Not sure i would classify Kooistra as a rouleur. Of course he has that high flat stat but the entire stat set look far more like a typical leadout sprinter to me.
I second the love for van Dijke. His 2023 stats already look quite cool and those are just his lvl3 stats. One of those talents that are just impossible to ruin no matter how you develop em.
A Big Thank You To All MG Reporters!
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AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-06-2023 06:53
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11679
Joined: 27-07-2015
PCM$: 1861.50
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@Nemolito: We're just as excited as you are with our crop of talents coming through. Enjoy Hoole, he's nice too
@liefwarrior: We wish we had all the cool Dutch riders hanging around elsewhere And yes, that is indeed the plan for Van Dijke, replace Benoot when the time comes eventually.
@quadsas: Well, finders keepers... you know the rest.
@Fabianski: Wherever they come from, I'm not complaining Agree with you on all of them. Maybe Leemreize becomes a bit more than that, but it depends on how other stuff turns out.
@knockout: Netherlands is still our secondary focus, so we don't intend to give up on any of them abruptly. Having said that, new directions always bring new opportunities. Perhaps you are right about Kooistra but we'll see if we can utilize him for both roles in the future. I'm glad Van Dijke is getting the love, as perhaps we have put in the most effort in trying to maximize his potential with his development path.
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