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[PT] Aegon - Peroni
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| Eden95 |
Posted on 21-09-2021 10:20
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Looks like you’ve built really well on top of the already solid foundation you had. VDP is a big loss as he’s such an interesting rider, but like you said he would need a big training commitment to get him right up there.
Indosat - ANZ HQ
"This Schleck sandwich is going to cause serious indigestion for Evans" - Phil Liggett |
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| roturn |
Posted on 11-08-2022 17:28
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Team Manager
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Post Renewals Pre Transfers Talk
It was a season with couple of ups but unfortunately a lot of downs. This was expected due to the management deciding to go for a big talent in Mauri Vansevenant to the cost of an additional leader.
As two of our regular performers in recent years though both had seasons to forget in Daan Olivier and Dylan Groenewegen, who both were far from their 2019/2020 performances, it become a long season against the relegation fight and to be honest, the management hadn`t expected the team to win this fight at one point.
Though luckily Sean De Bie had his best ever performance this year and was carrying the team nicely as was hoped already for the years before as he became the teams primarily training option. With some support of Van Hooydonck in his first ever maxed season and actually more ups than downs for him, the team just survived in a close fight and will remain PT next year.
Coming to the renewals! All our 4 leaders plus the most important lieutnants have signed new contracts as also top talent Vansevenant.
Leaving the team though are 2 bigger names. Both Italians. Surprise NC winner Enrico Barbin was deniying 3 offers, that in the eyes of the management were more than fair while Edoardo Zardini was decided to look for another team after his first decline and a pretty weak season in general.
They are followed by veteran Kevin Eeckhout, who only came in to the team in a very late move last year.
Let`s talk about the transfers. None of our leaders is expected to leave the team as they are a great core and are all happy to ride in our colours.
Kind of an unknown future though for some pretty good riders including Michal Schlegel, Jesse Sergent, Ginanni Vermeersch, Lucas Schädlich or Michael Hepburn. None of them is in need to leave the team but some are either slowly ageing or just don`t really suit our regional focus and feel to present themselves for another team.
 | Michal Schlegel | 69 | 76 | 77 | 65 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 55 | 64 | 75 | 73 | 66 | 64 | 27 |  | Gianni Vermeersch | 77 | 63 | 70 | 61 | 74 | 78 | 66 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 60 | 78 | 63 | 30 |  | Michael Hepburn | 71 | 64 | 66 | 79 | 74 | 77 | 72 | 60 | 66 | 69 | 67 | 62 | 79 | 31 |  | Jesse Sergent | 76 | 62 | 66 | 77 | 64 | 69 | 66 | 50 | 58 | 50 | 67 | 56 | 77 | 34 |  | Lucas Schädlich | 67 | 51 | 61 | 77 | 65 | 66 | 68 | 59 | 67 | 71 | 61 | 64 | 77 | 34 |
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| Fabianski |
Posted on 11-08-2022 17:38
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4669
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Congrats on staying up, and good to see that you were able to renew your most important riders 
Depending on the strategy I finally decide on, we might even be talking during transfers, who knows 
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-11-2024 04:19
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| ivaneurope |
Posted on 11-08-2022 18:52
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 2933
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First of all, congrats on maintaining your presence in the PT and outlining your core. And secondly, depending how my calendar and goals would align, we may engage in talks during the transfer season.
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| redordead |
Posted on 12-08-2022 07:08
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Grand Tour Specialist
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Some interesting riders available. Looking forward to see what you come up with
"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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| SotD |
Posted on 12-08-2022 07:24
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World Champion
Posts: 12187
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No more TT setup here 
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 12-08-2022 11:36
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World Champion
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Wow, I would love another Vermeersch, always thought he was cool  Really cool to see that De Bie is now that guy the last year or two after so long as a second or third thought to the last generation of big gun puncheurs (not even winning a race for a long time if I'm right?) and now enjoying his time as one of the world's absolute best
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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| roturn |
Posted on 23-08-2022 08:51
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Team Manager
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@jandal: you could have bid on him.
Indeed it was good to see De Bie finally had a great season after so much pain with him before. He really carried the team while Olivier and Groenewegen took a break for the first time really. A pity he failed so much in LBL to not even come close to win the Ardennes triple there.
4 Riders in - 4 Riders out
Goal of the transfer season was to get a 2nd GT rider. Last year Carboni did good with the GT double but it`s questionable he could do this every season without training. So the team picked 2-3 names and decided to kind of go all-in to get one of them.
Other than that there was no clear goal for any other terrain or rider as keeping our 4 leaders for each terrain was the next plan anyway.
| Tim Wellens | 72 | 82 | 75 | 72 | 79 | 80 | 76 | 62 | 63 | 68 | 64 | 70 | 72 | 31 |  | Marc Goos | 71 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 76 | 56 | 67 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 76 | 32 |  | Enrico Barbin | 69 | 68 | 78 | 63 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 57 | 71 | 76 | 65 | 67 | 63 | 32 | | Jasper Bovenhuis | 73 | 58 | 71 | 59 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 74 | 62 | 68 | 79 | 65 | 59 | 31 |
Tim Wellens obviously is the standout name here. He was actually Plan A on our list and so it`s great to see him joining. At age 31 he is still having a bit more in his legs and hopefully can support the team in the mountains. Similar to Olivier he combines great climbing with good hill skills but lacks a bit in time trialing, so the TT heavy races might still not suit our duo.
Marc Goos was a rider, we would have loved to get in probably every of the last 10 seasons, by the age of 32 and his final prime season, we finally were able to combine the Dutch duo Olivier/Goos, who kind of started their MG career at around the same time. He was a long term rider for EA Vesuvio and got a nice palmares such as a GT KoM jersey and fighting for top10`s in the biggest races himself. He is not as strong in the long climbs but his TT skills will suit us well in some races.
Enrico Barbin makes the comeback with the team. Being with us last year and being the main support for De Bie in the hills, he also surprised with the win in the Italian Road Race. Though his wage demands in renewals became too much for us and we decided to send him to FA, just to bring him back from there on the possible wage of 50.000 €. Hs takes the same role as last year and will make our sponsor proud with the Italian flag on his jersey.
Jasper Bovenhuis, last but not least. The Dutch allrounder had been with us already for multiple seasons before but then was involved in a deal with Philips, who now opened the door for another comeback. He will be a key for the cobble squad in support of Van Hooydonck.
| Michael Hepburn | 71 | 64 | 66 | 79 | 74 | 77 | 72 | 60 | 66 | 69 | 67 | 62 | 79 | 31 | | Frederik Frison | 71 | 56 | 67 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 67 | 54 | 65 | 65 | 63 | 67 | 77 | 30 | | Michal Schlegel | 69 | 76 | 77 | 65 | 71 | 74 | 76 | 55 | 64 | 75 | 73 | 66 | 64 | 27 | | Gianni Vermeersch | 77 | 63 | 70 | 61 | 74 | 78 | 66 | 75 | 74 | 72 | 60 | 78 | 63 | 30 |
Going for another big name meant, we wouldn`t be able to keep all our riders together. In the end though, we are happy to clearly improved our team by not losing a big team leader and neither the biggest support riders neither.
Michael Hepburn will still hurt us as best time trialist in the team. Though his chances for individual top performances aren`t best neither with a lot of better TT riders out there.
Frederik Frison is another long term rider, that was partly developed by us actually. He is the next time trialist to leave and will be missed in TTTs in especially.
Michal Schlegel is a very nice rider and still pretty young. Though in the hunt for a better climber, we had to let him go. His skills were helpful in both the climbs and the hills. Just like Frison, he is joining Tryg for their CT season and might get a lot more chances on his own.
Gianni Vermeersch was a late addition last year and while being of great support, his own chances were rather limited in our team. He is now joining a new CT team going for glory there.
 | Itamar Einhorn | 73 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 62 | 78 | 76 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 25 | | Marten Kooistra | 72 | 59 | 64 | 58 | 70 | 67 | 58 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 25 |
Itamar Einhorn and Marten Kooistra both joining us for a one-year period to make another development step. The young sprinters will likely support us in couple of races. |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 23-08-2022 08:58
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Directeur Sportif
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Great stuff getting Wellens in to share stage racing responsibility with Olivier. Happy to be involved in two deals once again. Look forward to how you go this season
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| DubbelDekker |
Posted on 23-08-2022 16:36
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Small Tour Specialist
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Wellens and Goos are both amazing <3
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| Nemolito |
Posted on 23-08-2022 17:45
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Classics Specialist
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The riders in are definitely stronger than the riders out, so did a great job I think. Einhorn could be a very interesting/scoring loan-in as well.
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| Croatia14 |
Posted on 23-08-2022 20:00
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Directeur Sportif
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Well your team certainly got stronger, though also all riders on the "older" side. Shouldn't be in the relegation battle with added strength imo.
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| SotD |
Posted on 23-08-2022 20:07
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World Champion
Posts: 12187
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Despite it not being a major turnaround, I think that from what I have seen so far you are probably the one making the best build. I know you came close to relegation last time, but the tweaks here I think will make wonders. Not as in moving up 1-2 spots, but a significant jump.
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| roturn |
Posted on 24-08-2022 09:26
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Team Manager
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@abhishek: Indeed I hope he is working well. Surely the years to come will also see us negotiating to improve Dutch talents.
@DubbleDekker: Indeed. Wellens iirc I tried 1-2 times before but never Plan A like. Goos I surely had asked SN couple of times. Getting them both now without having to swap one of my top5 leaders is nice.
Nemolito: Indeed. Not having high expectations in Einhorn. We`ll see how this goes for him. Neither had expectations in Minali last year, when he surprised a lot.
Croatia: Yeah, age wise it`s not ideal surely. Wellens still okay as the top GT riders were all around 31-33. Goos is mainly a one-season-see-how-he-goes rider. I also don`t expect me to be in that battle again tbh.
@SotD: Must check other teams as well still. But keeping your core plus getting 1-2 more scorers in is hopefully working out as expected to be around 10th spot or so. If Olivier and Groenewegen even find their 2018-2020 legs again and make 2021 forgotten, they might carry the team to a safe top10 hopefully. |
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| roturn |
Posted on 07-09-2022 11:59
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Team Manager
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21 riders in total will wear the Aegon - Peroni jersey in 2022 trying to improve from last year and avoid relegation fear as soon as possible. The team is happy to not only being able to keep all their top stars but also to have a solid leader for all terrains. That said, the part, that got weakened the most is surely the time trialing, though we should still be able to do decent there when needed.
Stage Racers
| Tim Wellens | 72 | 82 | 75 | 72 | 79 | 80 | 76 | 62 | 63 | 68 | 64 | 70 | 72 | 31 | | Daan Olivier | 72 | 81 | 76 | 69 | 76 | 80 | 77 | 59 | 64 | 71 | 70 | 71 | 69 | 30 | | Giovanni Carboni | 70 | 78 | 76 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 73 | 62 | 66 | 69 | 61 | 72 | 69 | 27 | | Marc Goos | 71 | 77 | 74 | 76 | 78 | 75 | 76 | 56 | 67 | 73 | 70 | 68 | 76 | 32 | | Giulio Ciccone | 67 | 77 | 73 | 71 | 70 | 70 | 73 | 50 | 51 | 69 | 59 | 59 | 79 | 28 | | Thomas Koep | 68 | 75 | 73 | 72 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 53 | 52 | 57 | 54 | 65 | 72 | 32 |  | Cristian Munoz | 64 | 75 | 72 | 70 | 66 | 68 | 69 | 65 | 57 | 70 | 64 | 65 | 67 | 26 |
With Wellens the team added the much needed stage racer next to Olivier, so that we can basically cover all mountains with them. Both are capable to reach the top10 in those and maybe even fight for more. Their time trialing is not the best, so they better avoid the longest TTs.
This obviously leaves Carboni a bit behind, last year still a double GT leader, it is more difficult for him this season. That said, as none of the other two can do a double GT, he likely has some freedom as well.
Goos is a nice addition as he gives the team something new. The combination of climbing and time trialing might see him perform well in races with weaker startlists or longer TTs.
Ciccone, Koep and Munoz (as late Vanhoucke swap clone) will have helper tasks mainly.
Puncheurs
| Sean De Bie | 73 | 71 | 84 | 72 | 77 | 76 | 69 | 68 | 72 | 75 | 74 | 65 | 68 | 31 | | Enrico Barbin | 69 | 68 | 78 | 63 | 75 | 73 | 70 | 57 | 71 | 76 | 65 | 67 | 63 | 32 | | Nico Denz | 71 | 74 | 76 | 67 | 70 | 70 | 70 | 65 | 63 | 73 | 71 | 65 | 71 | 28 | | Mauri Vansevenant | 72 | 70 | 75 | 68 | 76 | 75 | 68 | 62 | 69 | 76 | 75 | 69 | 70 | 23 | | Arvid De Kleijn | 70 | 61 | 75 | 60 | 71 | 71 | 76 | 66 | 74 | 75 | 64 | 64 | 67 | 28 |
The hills are all about De Bie easily. He is one of the terrains best and should remain to perform on a high level in 2022 and potentially repeating to be the team`s top scorer. His ability on other terrains gives him a bit freedom to do well in several races, but he clearly is aiming the Ardennes again to repeat his 2021 performance by winning Amstel Gold and Fleche Wallone.
Barbin is back to be his main support, which worked very well, while Denz` role became more important for harder races as the leaving of both Zardini and Schlegel is opening a gap there, which might as well be covered by some of the stage racers of course.
Vansevenant is back from the Minions loan and much stronger. While still in the middle of his development, he should be in for a surprise here and there already while De Kleijn has the nice little sprint in the end, that showed off last year here and there.
Sprinters
| Dylan Groenewegen | 73 | 61 | 67 | 64 | 74 | 71 | 85 | 59 | 82 | 81 | 59 | 64 | 72 | 29 | | Itamar Einhorn | 73 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 70 | 71 | 73 | 62 | 78 | 76 | 60 | 63 | 64 | 25 | | Marten Kooistra | 72 | 59 | 64 | 58 | 70 | 67 | 58 | 68 | 73 | 72 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 25 |
Groenewegen will of course have the lead sprinter role in all races he enters. He was carrying the team nicely in the past but had a weaker 2021. He surely hopes to improve from there and should win a stage or two this year.
Einhorn and Kooistra both came from loan and will have support roles mainly, even though Einhorn obviously could surprise in some sprints if he is still there in the end.
Cobblers
| Nathan Van Hooydonck | 73 | 63 | 71 | 72 | 75 | 74 | 69 | 80 | 61 | 72 | 64 | 67 | 72 | 27 | | Taco Van der Hoorn | 75 | 60 | 70 | 55 | 76 | 69 | 60 | 75 | 56 | 66 | 84 | 66 | 52 | 29 | | Ludovic Robeet | 76 | 61 | 67 | 61 | 72 | 75 | 65 | 74 | 67 | 69 | 77 | 69 | 67 | 28 | | Jasper Bovenhuis | 73 | 58 | 71 | 59 | 74 | 70 | 72 | 74 | 62 | 68 | 79 | 65 | 59 | 31 |
Van Hooydonck is out top cobbler and showed his skills with multiple top10s last year. Van der Hoorn remains the top support, while and improved Robeet and the comebacker Bovenhuis are hopefully enough to compensate the loss of Vermeersch/Eeckhout.
Time Trials
| Jesse Sergent | 76 | 62 | 66 | 77 | 64 | 69 | 66 | 50 | 58 | 50 | 67 | 56 | 77 | 34 | | Lucas Schädlich | 67 | 51 | 61 | 77 | 65 | 66 | 68 | 59 | 67 | 71 | 61 | 64 | 77 | 34 |
Ageing you say? Yes, clearly, at age 34 each Sergent and Schädlich are the oldest riders in our squad. Still they have big value, in especially in TTTs in their late career days. Sergent even still can have a shot with a late attack.
NCs
As a team that doesn`t often has National Champions due to the big opposition in the focussed Nations Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Italy, it`s nice to see this changed in 2022. Both the Italian and Dutch Road Race winners Barbin and Groenewegen will be in our colours as also the New Zealand ITT champion Sergent.
And as usual the NC colours come into the team with the loanies and so Einhorn is showing the Israel NC jersey for us.
Dylan Groenewegen - Netherlands RR
Enrico Barbin - Italy RR
Itamar Einhorn - Israel RR
Jesse Sergent - New Zealand ITT |
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| AbhishekLFC |
Posted on 07-09-2022 18:30
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Directeur Sportif
Posts: 11675
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With Wellens coming in, and also getting Goos, the stage racing part of squad has got a major boost this season. Great story for Goos and Olivier to be finally reunited. De Bie should have good support on the hills as well. Hope Kooistra can help Groenewegen on the flats and maybe also the cobbles squad. Looking forward to following your team this season
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| roturn |
Posted on 09-06-2023 10:50
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Team Manager
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11 years! Kind of an era is coming to an end today. There weren`t many contants in the team. One clearly was Lars Boom, long time leader and face of the team for many years, who by now has ended his career. Another might have been Thomas Koep, who, if rumours are right, also is on the way out of the team.
Only one constant though was there for the full period of the team`s existence: The sponsorship by Aegon was something special and started as co-sponsor but quite early moved into the prime position to support the team in all the ups and downs.
With the unexpected relegation after the 2022 season, a lot of things will change. With a smaller budget this doesn`t only mean a bigger cutting of team leaders, something which is rather uncommon for the team itself, but also on the sponsor side, a full refurbishment is going to happen. This includes the main sponsor Aegon just like co-sponsor Peroni alongside bike manufacture Stevens.
Luckily the team was able to quickly find a replacement, a new main sponsor in Fastned as also having signed a deal for new bikes from Koga.
The Benelux and in especially Dutch focus will remain. It`s not yet delivered what this means for the several Italian riders in the team and neither for any of the top stars.
Big thanks to eezefreak for some quality work on the new shirt:
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| Ezeefreak |
Posted on 09-06-2023 10:57
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Domestique
Posts: 555
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11 years, who thats quite some time but starting something "new" is also always thrilling. The shirt is also great obviously 
Reading here that Koep might be available is something we are really glad to read. I think with his experience he should be very useful to a CT with german focus
Best luck for this new part of your journey and that you'll be soon be back up there again!
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| jandal7 |
Posted on 09-06-2023 11:01
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World Champion
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Wow! Going to be very strange not having Aegon or the light blue jerseys in the peloton. If the Fastned era is anywhere near as successful then it's going to be a great adventure though!
Guess you've been waiting for Gazelle to be in a different division to rip off their jersey?
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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| tsmoha |
Posted on 09-06-2023 11:02
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Directeur Sportif
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Gazelle-ish dominance incoming?
Sad end to an era, especially that final race, where I expected De Bie to deliver and instead he totally collapsed. Well. I'm sure you will bounce back from relegation in style!
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