cio93 wrote:

That's the least I expected from you after having declined >2m offers for Wilco last year.

cio93 wrote:
With the upcoming stage racing talent having an apparent lack of HIL proficiency, especially comparing to some of the TT stats emerging (Bernal, Sivakov, Pogacar, McNulty, Wirtgen), I want to ensure that Herklotz has an advantage over them in 19 of 21 stages rather than just catching up to them in 2 of 21.

After winning the 2018 Vuelta, and finishing second in the 2019 Giro, Silvio Herklotz will finally line up for the biggest cycling race in the world!
With barely any TT influence, this route suits Herklotz perfectly, particularly when supported by the strong TTT lineup that we assembled over the last years.
Despite this being the Tour de France, we hope to avoid the few potentially better stage racers that might not enjoy this route for exactly the same reasons why we do enjoy it, and then it's all about Silvio showing what he's capable of in the mountains.
The goal says Top 3, but we want to win!

Our annual MSR podium goal returns again for 2020, after achieving it for the first time last season!
Arnaud Demare is still aiming for the win in the only monument that suits our team this season, and neither him nor his support squad has gotten weaker, so we're confident to get it right again.

Finally back to the hillier route, Arnaud Demare will try to repeat his 2018 overall win in the Netherlands against the usual suspects, minus Kump!
With an improved sprint train that should survive the first two stages to set him up there, and his usual puncheur qualities for stage 3 that were on display in a similar TdF stage last season, we're backing Arnaud for another top result here.

The closest Silvio Herklotz will come to a home race that he can realistically win, this unique classic close to the German border remains a win goal for us after a thrilling finale last season saw us only take the lowest podium spot.
With Silvio's hill training coming in quite handy in the expected explosive finale, plus last year's winner Spilak declining, we're confident to improve on that result.

In the wake of a tumultuous transfer season at many teams but Puma, it'll be hard to achieve a third consecutive podium result in the PT team rankings, despite how good Herklotz and Demare are.
For budget reasons and because we believe it'd send the wrong signal to a practically identical roster to aim much lower in 2020, we went for this optimistic goal regardless.