Nice team @Fab! I went after Ollero myself but missed out by a few dollars (or w/e ICL currency is). Once I have more than 3 riders I'll make a HQ post as well
valverde321 wrote:
Nice team @Fab! I went after Ollero myself but missed out by a few dollars (or w/e ICL currency is). Once I have more than 3 riders I'll make a HQ post as well
Thanks With Huamán, Mendes and DÃaz, we have made three more important signings clearly increasing the depth (the roster has been updated, btw). I'm pretty happy with transfers so far, especially the "Latino focus" is clearly visible. What we're lacking, however, is a "big leader" - let's see if we can still get one
And I guess you didn't just miss out on Ollero by a few dollars, my max was quite a big higher still (probably due to newbie strategy mistakes ^^)
Fabianski wrote:
And I guess you didn't just miss out on Ollero by a few dollars, my max was quite a big higher still (probably due to newbie strategy mistakes ^^)
Ollero was the biggest available talent in the entire game, I don't see how you could've made any sort of mistake if you got him in the end.
Kris Boeckmans - 1. - Tour de San Luis Stage 1 Gatis Smukulis - 1. - Tour de San Luis Stage 7 Gatis Smukulis - 1. - Tour de San Luis Points Classification Yannick Eijssen - 1. - Tour of South Africa Stage 6 Yannick Eijssen - 1. - Tour of South Africa Stage 7 Yannick Eijssen - 1. - Tour of South Africa GC Gatis Smukulis - 1. - 4 Jours de Dunkerque Stage 4 Tony Gallopin - 1. - Tour d'Andorra Stage 1 Kris Boeckmans - 1. - Int. Österreich-Rundfahrt Stage 6 Yannick Eijssen - 1. - Volta a Portugal Stage 4 Yannick Eijssen - 1. - Volta a Portugal GC Armand Becis - 1. - Tour of Britain Stage 8 Yannick Eijssen - 2. - Tour d'Indonesia GC Yannick Eijssen - 2. - Paris-Nice Stage 5 Yannick Eijssen - 2. - Paris-Nice GC Tony Gallopin - 2. - Criterium International Stage 2 Gaetan Bille - 2. - Tour of South Africa Stage 2 Toms Skujins - 2. - VDK-Driedaagse De Panne Stage 2 Nerius Jankauskienis - 2. - Amgen Tour of California Stage 8 Yannick Eijssen - 2. - Tour d'Andorra Stage 3 Arnaud Geronboux - 2. - Tour of Britain Stage 4 Arnaud Geronboux - 2. - Tour of Britain Stage 7 Yannick Eijssen - 3. - Tour d'Indonesia Stage 1 Yannick Eijssen - 3. - National Capital Tour Stage 3 Yannick Eijssen - 3. - Paris-Nice Stage 4 Olegs Klimovics - 3. - Criterium International Stage 2 Arnaud Geronboux - 3. - Amgen Tour of California Stage 7 Ivars Prokofjevs - 3. - Tour do Rio Jonathan Monsalve - 3. - USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage 1 Yannick Eijssen - 3. - USA Pro Cycling Challenge Stage 4 Yannick Eijssen - 3. - Belgian Championship ITT
Our new sponsor demanded a top rider, a proven winner. Among several great free agents we decided to make Peter Sagan our top priority and we are extremely pleased to announce that we secured his signature. By total stat points 30-year old Sagan is the best rider in the world, he has 40 ICL victories under his belt and will be our clear classics captain with the aim of retaining his World Cup title.
3 days after the opening of negotiations, let's take stock of the situation.
Ok, I can say I'm quite satisfied so far, but the hard work is yet to do, when you have the whole budget just for a goal, it's easy to manage the situation. The first priority is fulfilled, now starts the part where you have to play great your remaining cards, we have a lot of holes to be covered, in particular the empty space leaved by Vanendert, who raced a great season in 2019...
You agree that Phinney is a great signing for a CT team, why this wary optimism?
It is, but we were confident to get a deal with him, last season we got good results as rookie, and Trek rewarded us with a considerable increase of budget, we had the task to pay back with a rider who can represent the brand, probably the best US rider available on FA market.
I remain cautious because at the moment we have weakness, in particular in climbers, that is a big part of the yearly score, and we already have been outbided on our best choice...next day is crucial to understend our future.
You brought some freshness in the team, with a lot of youngsters, a new line is coming?
An eye on the future, necessary for a long term project, but we lowered age average just in apparence, almost all under 23 riders will race in development team. Main team will remain with a solid base of experienced riders.
While we were hoping to complete our team by today's transfer day, we finally missed out on one rider due to what proved to be suboptimal maximum bid placement. Still, we were able to secure some more of our main targets - in numbers, they currently are our 2nd, 4th and 5th strongest riders. Plus one final talent who will complete our U23 roster.
First, we proudly present a GT stage winner:
Rick Zabel had two stage wins in the 2019 season, thereof stage 12 of the Vuelta a España, where he came 6th in the points standings, too.
Although he doesn't fit our regional focus, he was a logical choice, given German-speaking Mr. Fabianski's connections in his home area. The 27 year old is strong on the hills as well - and given his age should still be able to improve. Welcome on board, Rick!
Fitting our focus a bit more is another European, Roberto Romero MartÃnez. In terms of language, he will smoothly integrate in our team, with pretty much everyone speaking Spanish.
The young cobbler had a 19th place in Ronde van Vlaanderen as his most notable result last year - proving that he doesn't fear the hills by any means. Besides being our cobbles leader, he will therefore strengthen our hilly squad as well - just like Rick. Thanks for joining us, Roberto!
With Yonder Godoy, we are definitely back to regional focus! The Venezuelan uphill specialist will be Chamorro's main domestique, but will as well get some opportunities on his own. 27 years is a good age to already perform, but still work on his skills - we're counting on you, Yonder!
So far, 23 out of 25 riders are from Central or South America, thereof 7 Argentineans and 3 Chileans. We're hoping to discover more talents in our home countries, but for the moment, we'd say: Mission accomplished!
One open question remains: who will be the final rider on our roster? We'll hopefully soon find out!
At the start of this year, we announced the first four arrivals to our team: Mitchell Jones, Ioannis Foster, Angus Chapman, and South African time trial champion Louis Meintjes. We said at the time that we were in talks with many other riders but could not yet provide any more details. Well, I am happy to announce that we have 14 new riders to introduce in our completed roster for the 2020 season!
To start off, the secondary focus of the squad will be on climbing and stage races. Joining Chapman and Meintjes in that regard, will be Dylan Girdlestone, Joshua Atkins, and Australian road race champion Lachlan Morton. Morton will be a stage racing captain alongside Chapman, and the two will likely have mostly different schedules based on their differing ability in time trials. For major stage racing goals at which sprinting will not be a major focus however, it may not be unusual to see all of our climbing specialists on the roster together.
The squad's main focus throughout the season will be sprinting, and we will appear at flat races and stage races with lots of flat stages for the most part. We anticipate that our supporting cast to this end will be a formidable force at every racing level. Robert-Jon McCarthy, Paul Van der Ploeg, David Whitehead, Scott Thwaites, and Neil Brick will be the main lead-out riders who will work closely with our sprint leaders to synergize and ensure a smooth finish at the end of every flat stage. Nathan Haas, Jack Haig, and Ben Swift will be key domestiques for our sprinters when the terrain isn't ideally flat, and they may get some of their own opportunities when the chances arise.
Given our team's focus on sprinting, we felt it fitting that our sprint captains would have a section of their own. Jesse Kerrison will be the first, and our friends at Avanti were very happy for us to have him on board. He will be the leader at some of the more minor races, and will sometimes join our other captain to assist in his pursuits. That other captain in question is Leigh Howard. Howard brings tons of experience and ability to the team, and will constantly be in the hunt as one of the best sprinters in the Continental Tour. Having a captain who can fight with the best and at the same time teach the younger riders in the squad was our hope for this season, and we are extremely happy to have Howard who will be able to accomplish both.
There is one rider left out of our total of 18, and we are giving him a special spotlight since he will be our only specialist in this area. Campbell Flakemore is our wildcard leader, specializing in time trials. When he's not on the TT bike, he will be able to help out the sprinters on road stages, but we will be sure to bring him to quite a few races where his biggest talents can shine.
National Champion Jerseys
We are very pleased to have two current national champions on our team, Meintjes and Morton. Both will hopefully be appearing quite often towards the fore of races, and they will proudly be displaying their national champion colours while they do it. The designs are simple and sleek, with the ethos of style in minimalism. Aside from the colours of national champion, you will just see the bright splash of Strava orange on our main title sponsor's logo, which will help establish continuity between these kits and the regular kit worn by the rest of the team.
Tao shocked us with a wage demand of 840 during renewals. Yes, he had an excellent 2019 season, but he hardly improved in the off-season and so with a heavy heart we had to let him go.
He found himself on the FA market up against many riders who are equally skilled as well as Peiffer, who had leapfrogged him in the off-season and became the main target for many teams (including ours). But we decided against signing Peiffer at any price, knowing that would leave a path back for Geoghegan Hart. And that's exactly what happened, we were able to convince him to sign for a much more reasonable wage (505).
We are very happy he returned, he is the best British rider below an age of 28 (the Yates twins) and we hope we won't have to go through this drama again.
Nice signings again Fabianski. I had been leading Godoy from the first day, but actually hoped someone else came in for him as my targets shifted to younger riders. at lower wages. Cruz was another rider I wanted (he would've been my best sprinter ) but I didnt pay enough I guess.
Nice signing as well Ripley. I seriously questioned making a bid for Hart, but went for younger riders which I lost out on as well
EF x Palace - Nippo is one of the newest teams to join ICL and hopes to make a substantial impact already in its maiden season. The team has deals with Colombian and Japanese governments to help develop cyclists from those areas, as well as a sponsor focus for North American riders. The Development squad, know as EF Cycling school will hopefully train riders from those focus regions to be the future core of the team, however wont be limited to those regions, but simply given preference in the result of a tie between two riders.
I really don't get why you wanted Hornig, but in a fast-moving Free Agency, I couldn't afford to waste several days fighting over him.
Luckily I had Richter lined up as an alternative.
ivaneurope wrote:
I'm very curious about your team's direction valverde321 - your signings at this point are mostly aged 23 or younger.
It'll probably get older in the next update. I have most of my dev team signed now, but gotta get some main roster riders too
cio93 wrote:
I really don't get why you wanted Hornig, but in a fast-moving Free Agency, I couldn't afford to waste several days fighting over him.
Luckily I had Richter lined up as an alternative.
I might drop a PM if he develops well though.
Why wouldnt I want him? Great stats for a 20 Year old. He could become my stage racer for the future....
Tao shocked us with a wage demand of 840 during renewals. Yes, he had an excellent 2019 season, but he hardly improved in the off-season and so with a heavy heart we had to let him go.
He found himself on the FA market up against many riders who are equally skilled as well as Peiffer, who had leapfrogged him in the off-season and became the main target for many teams (including ours). But we decided against signing Peiffer at any price, knowing that would leave a path back for Geoghegan Hart. And that's exactly what happened, we were able to convince him to sign for a much more reasonable wage (505).
We are very happy he returned, he is the best British rider below an age of 28 (the Yates twins) and we hope we won't have to go through this drama again.
Gratz Ripley, well played and managed. Wish that would be an option for Pot7 riders too, but if VDP would be released to Free Agency his wage would likely triple with bidding
"It’s a little bit scary when Contador attacks." - Tommy V
cio93 wrote:
I really don't get why you wanted Hornig, but in a fast-moving Free Agency, I couldn't afford to waste several days fighting over him.
Luckily I had Richter lined up as an alternative.
I might drop a PM if he develops well though.
Why wouldnt I want him? Great stats for a 20 Year old. He could become my stage racer for the future....
Just wildly outside of your focus regions, that's all.
The manager is known for being timid when it comes to bidding on future talents. Consequently he failed in hiring about a dozen pot 6 talents he bid on. The only pot 6 talent he was able to pick up was the youngest of them all, Agustin Rodriguez from the Dominican Republic. He then added another Brit, David Hall, as well as Kevin Rakotonjanahary, a Malagasy.
We can expect slighty better results than last season because the team improved overall, but we still won't see many riders on the podium. Only the two 19-year olds, Richards and Rodriguez, have good potential, but they still have a long road ahead. All other riders have to fear they'll be replaced in the near future. Shelton only has high stamina and little else, Grimsdell is a weak climber who additionally hates descents, Broomhead is a very mediocre sprinter, Hill offers nothing except for some TT. Maybe Rakotonjanahary could become a decent puncher.
With Huamán, Mendes and DÃaz, we have made three more important signings clearly increasing the depth (the roster has been updated, btw). I'm pretty happy with transfers so far, especially the "Latino focus" is clearly visible. What we're lacking, however, is a "big leader" - let's see if we can still get one 
Latvijas Balzams - Olainfarm
Andrés Cruz is joining us! The 21 year old Cuban already is a good sprinter - our 3rd strongest to be precise - and he'll hopefully rock the U23 sprints together with Espinosa. He completes the "Gauchitos" roster, which we'll present soon.
