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[PCT] Podium Ambition
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 02-05-2018 12:13
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Stability?" Post
We began in the CT in 2013. Promoted up, survived by the graces of the MGUCI, relegated down and promoted up again. Now with our PCT survival via an 18th place finish in many ways this is the first season of stability for Podium Ambition!
Our sponsors have all been satisfied by the season, delivering a few good wins and a reasonable final ranking. McLaren and Hincapie joined this season and will remain onboard. Antofagasta and Avanti are very happy, as is Shimano and Whooshh. Mount Gay Rum are extactic at the results from Matthews. MCB seem satisfied but would still like a bigger African representation outside Le Court.
The only concerned sponsor is Jumeirah Group. We have no middle-eastern riders and very little performance in the area. We're in some discussions with potential new partners. Both are based out of Macau, the Macau Jockey Club and Sociedad de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau. The later being the more interesting option for the team. Although we're undecided at this exact moment, a final decision will come ahead of Transfers.
On the riders front, it's a touch too early to say for certain. We're very open about Marcus needing a wage cut to stay. Julian and Momchil come back from Loans so we need to make a little space. Luckily one other rider is declining this year and is an obvious candidate. And we don't need to maintain our non-existant Time Trial unit unless he can again win a National Title.
Nothing specific there to stay inside transfer rules, but if you're desparate enough you can probably figure out who we're talking about.
So that will leave very little room for recruitment. We could see a growth in our African representation to keep MCB happy. We could boost our South American division to help Antogfagasta. Bring in a new Asian sponsor and we'll need to give them a marketable rider. Whatever happens it'll be a low-key off-season, this team can clearly survive the PCT so now we just need to add one or two pieces to push up the table!
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 02-05-2018 14:01
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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Ewan may want to finally ride on PT level. Just saying 
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| viking90 |
Posted on 02-05-2018 16:30
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4032
Joined: 24-01-2009
PCM$: 200.00
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Big squad of talents here, Caleb Ewan 
It was a pleasure having Robov with us this season he did some great work! |
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 23-11-2024 02:07
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 02-05-2018 17:33
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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@tsmoha - He went to the Giro this year so he's happy with that PT taste for now, and would much rather focus on bringing Podium Ambition up to the PT 
Or you can throw buckets and buckets of cash at me
@viking - 10 level ups and 3 who didn't, transfers was very talent heavy! Ewan obviously stands out and we've got no-one that interesting coming through now.
Happy Robov could help keep you safe!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 04-05-2018 18:35
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Is This pre-Financial Crash?" Post
Is it 2008 again? Because we're going to be sponsored by Woolworths! Although, not the Woolworths that was the beloved home of free pick&mix sweets and cheap kids halloween costumes. No, we've signed a deal with Woolworths! The South African/Australian one!
Jumeirah Group, as expected, will be stepping aside. A lack of local riders and interest made any future relationship impossible to maintain and we part ways on good terms after two years. Woolworths step into the space for what could be a very long-term deal! With the continued support for Australian riders like Caleb Ewan and Ricki Nelson there is good marketing opportunity down under. And with gaps opening up fast in the African area via the dissolution of Eritel and Project: Africa, and the previous loss of Kenya Airways, and the relegation of Haute Route (sorry!), making moves seems obvious.
This may well guide our off-season movements, driving a focus towards Australia and Africa. Don't expect massive overhaul as we're happy with 90% of the team going forwards. But as we will need one or two riders might as well go for ones that'll please the backers.
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 05-05-2018 06:16
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World Champion
Posts: 11392
Joined: 17-12-2014
PCM$: 1020.00
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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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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 05-05-2018 18:16
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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@Jandal -
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-06-2018 15:30
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Offseason Pre-Planning" Post
Time to talk about the off-season in more details here at Podium Ambition. A little early? Well yes and no. Yes because nothing official is allowed to be talked about and No because we won't be here otherwise. T3A management won't be available for almost the entire off-season, hence we're getting things sorted out early.
Sponsors have already been confirmed. We're adding Woolworths to replace Jumeirah Group and that boost our African + Oceanic influences. We can say the jersey won't be changing, keeping the design and colors from the past few seasons. the_hoyle is again on creation duties and there will be a proper presentation at some stage.
Onto riders. Who will be staying? Who will be going? Well we can't be too specific for legal reasons. But we will finish renewals with 19/20 riders, at least that's our aim. That means there will be a few guys released into the wild for someone to pick up from the Free Agency.
Well we can't rely on the same riders to keep us safe again, that will be a big risk and not one worth taking at this stage in the teams existence. But exiting renewals with 19/20 riders doesn't leave us scrambling around either. Keeping with the teams philosophies and history expect recruitment to focus on a new younger Cobbles specialist or another Sprinter to ease the pressure on Caleb. Possibly a Puncheur to work with Yates if the other two don't pan out.
It's a very simple plan paying faith in the riders who got us promoted and kept us safe. With the gains from our youngsters this should serve us well going forwards. Especially after another good talent intake in 2017.
Oh, and as we're keeping the team name and division, we're going to keep the same HQ rolling as well!
Guess what we're going to leave you all with for the summer? That's right, a hot chick gif!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 31-08-2018 22:05
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Holy Sh*t We're Alive And Good?" Post
January flew by and the season is now well underway. Now we can't confirm exactly why the team management has been absent. Some say there were tax issues that needed sorting out in Barbados. Others say a drunken holiday got way too out of hand. A few even suggest two months of deep meditation high in the Tibeten Himalayas. None of this we can confirm or deny. Although it was probably just a giant gif hunt...
The main man Caleb Ewan has already racked up more points in January than he did in the entirity of 2017! Stage Win + 3rd GC Down Under, plus a good DUC and other placings in the TDU. Yeah, he's just that good. He better be considering the contract he's now on!
That combined with a good showing from Simon Yates and Podium Ambition stand 2nd, yes you read that right 2nd!, in the early rankings! 2nd! We've not been that high since the end of the 2016 season in the CT, and we've never been this high up in the PCT before ever. Really we are incredibly proud of the flying start. Ok yes this definitely won't be kept up, but we can approach the rest of the year with some cautious optimism. Could there be a promotion challenge on the table? ... not a damn chance!
Well, time for a gif to make sure we really are back!
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 19-04-2019 21:45
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Honestly, We're Not Quite Sure Anymore..." Post
This is our 6th season as a team, and it could be the last... The last?! Yes, the last! Currently sitting in 5th overall, that's a promotion position, and projected for 2nd why would we be thinking of quitting? Just imagine what we could do with Ewan or Yates on a PT training budget!!!
In short, a severe shortage of motivation, interest and time. And if i'm not 100% commited to the game, that's unfair on those who continue to work so very hard to make it so very good. And i don't want to be that person who quits if the can't win, but i've done the PCT three times now and the CT twice. I really don't need to do them again.
If we can keep up the promotion push and earn that PT place, the team could keep going. Could. Still not a given. But as you probably notice i'm hardly here anymore, and overall i'm really falling out of love with cycling, and focusing on different passions. Thus when the end of the season comes around there'll be a decision to make.
So don't go calling dibs on my riders just yet (yes i'm looking at you Tsmoha!) but here's a fair warning that Podium Ambition might have been a little too ambitious.
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| sutty68 |
Posted on 20-04-2019 00:04
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 34654
Joined: 22-08-2010
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It will be sad if you decide to call it a day but unfortunately that is a choice only you can make  |
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| tsmoha |
Posted on 20-04-2019 06:56
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11819
Joined: 19-07-2010
PCM$: 300.00
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| TheManxMissile |
Posted on 13-08-2019 08:38
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Tour de France Champion
Posts: 18187
Joined: 12-05-2012
PCM$: 0.00
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The Great Big "Tubthumping" Post
Yes i spend more time thinking about titles than i do about the content of posts... But when you get knocked down, you get up again, never let them keep you down! We've relegated twice. We've completely changed the teams focus. We've been on the verge of fading into the pages of history. But you stick with it, work hard, chip away and keep getting back on the horse. All so you can reach the top of the mountain... and use too many cliches...
Now we're still waiting on official confirmation from the MGUCI, but by our calculations Podium Ambition has achieved the magnificent result. The top honor you can get in the MG. And at the perfect moment too, with our best riders being training eligible we're going to get a massive cash injection. Our long term development projects can reach their true potential, and we will have the cap space to really go out and replace our fading classic leaders.
Look, we're trying not to get too excited without official confirmation. And the way we're getting the job done comes at the sad expense of others we really admire and will miss massively from the game. But this is it, as you might say, the summit finish.
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![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
