@redordead: Thank you sir. My concern with Dion Smith is the obvious mountain focus from a number of the CT squads. It'll be interesting if his acceleration and fight attributes get him in position to contend at times. I can't see him winning any races unless Jorgensen is a no-show at various C2 events, but nevertheless he should be a useful scorer for us.
@AbhishekLFC: The final update shall be coming soon, with the full leadership and then the full team...but quite early on in transfers we'd managed to secure some strong riders, albeit with lower main stats than ideal, looking at the competition. I hope our focus on the secondaries will pay off.
Laurens147: Duvel-Tsingtao management hopes so, we had a stated ambition of promoting straight away and hopefully Van Lerberghe will have a big part to play. In my first go-around, I had Yoeri Havik playing the sprinty cobbly guy role, but he packed a proper punch. Van Lerberghe is more of your typical cobbler, but with a number of CT teams completely neglecting the cobbles this year, we're really hoping for a solid points haul there.
Seems we both decided to go for a Belgian/Chinese focus this offseason, that was surprising! But I'm glad Changsheng and Liu will get used to the Belgian way of life this year...their stomachs will be more accustomed to the Belgian diet when they come to Duvel-Tsingtao in future
SotD: Thank you mate, and unfortunate we couldn't get a deal done this offseason. I like the riders, glad to hear they are liked elsewhere as well...hopefully that will increase our commercial revenues so we can take part in some of the outrageous training spends in future offseasons
As transfers have now ended, including the CT free rider draft, Duvel-Tsingtao is delighted to share the final additions to its inaugural roster and present the full roster. First, the final additions the team picked up, followed by the roster presentation and overall thoughts:
Jingbiao Zhao
4.100
29yo
€120,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
74
58
65
66
68
74
74
58
77
81
56
71
78
Zhao winning Stage 6 of the 2021 Tour of Japan, possibly his top result
Quick analysis: Tsingtao management is surprised, pleasantly for sure, but surprised nonetheless to see the roster carrying not one, but two Chinese discipline leaders this season! Zhao has less sprint nous than others in the CT peloton, but packs a wallop when he decides to accelerate. He also has the bonus prologue specialty and will be a useful rider for others on various flat stages, if he manages to get over any speed bumps along the way.
Management is particularly interested to see how PCM treats he and Tosh Van der Sande, who both are on 77 sprint rating. We've see stranger things happen than both sprinters getting in each other's way rather than sorting themselves out for a good leadout. Zhao should know better, joining fresh from winning the PT title with Aker - MOT last season.
Previous team: Aker - MOT
Sulkhan Akhmaevi
4.100
27yo
€50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
68
71
68
77
69
69
71
60
61
65
63
63
73
We couldn't find an image of Akhmaevi so we show his pre-season diet instead
Transfer fee: €125k from cycleYorkshire
Quick analysis: With the time trial discipline becoming so important in this year's C2 calendar, the decision was taken to add depth in this area, despite the lack of value for money in the free agency market. Luckily, we were able to strike a deal with PT outfit cycleYorkshire, historically a top-class stable for TT riders, for the 27 year old Akhmaevi. He has plenty of scope to improve (not least in prologue), but will be a useful depth piece for the team this year.
Previous team: cycleYorkshire
Marco Brenner
1.000
22yo
€245,000 (€100,000 paid by DVT)
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
66
69
68
67
68
68
67
51
66
68
69
72
68
Quick analysis: Entrusted with great responsibility by Team Puma - SAP to give Brenner his first experience in the pro peloton, team management is happy to have secured a 1 > 3 loan this season with such a solid rider. Brenner will be useful across multiple terrains and we have had no difficulty finding value in his skillset as a team domestique for a variety of races this season.
Previous team: None
Mike Aaron Egger
4.100
31yo
€60,000 (€30,000 paid by DVT)
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
66
75
74
55
70
76
71
59
64
74
73
65
55
Loan fee: €65k from Team Puma - SAP
Quick analysis: Egger, aka 'Brenner's chaperone', joins on loan from PT side Team Puma - SAP, to support Brenner's development and guide him through the rough Belgian wilderness. Egger will also hopefully be useful in mountainous and hilly races, where he is thought of as not only skilled, but also a resistance beast who can take the hurt of shepharding our leaders to their destination. A bargain support rider for the cost of 2 stagiares, we're delighted to have Egger.
Previous team: Team Puma - SAP
Gianluca Pollefliet
1.000
22yo
€50,000
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
69
54
60
58
66
68
63
69
70
68
62
60
64
Quick analysis: With top Belgian and Chinese talents rapidly being snapped up for inflated prices in free agency, team management made the decision to pivot to Pollefliet, who can develop into a useful cobblist. He's going to be at many events this season and will also level up significantly, but it will remain to be seen if he can make a career in the Man-Game.
Previous team: None
Stan Van Tricht
4.52
25yo
€50,000 (€25,000 paid by DVT)
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
71
68
70
62
71
72
69
65
71
75
70
65
63
Quick analysis: Van Tricht will ride for Carlsberg - Danske Bank in the PT, and be fully maxed out by the end of this season. We welcome him from defunct Mercatone Uno and hope he can become another solid domestic rider in time. We hope he enjoys his time in Denmark and comes back safe and sound, after having to contend with so much pickled herring.
Previous team: Mercatone Uno - Weba
Yutao Shen
1.000
24yo
Free
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
65
63
66
57
68
68
71
52
54
63
65
62
60
Quick analysis: The first Chinese talent coming through the Duvel-Tsingtao production line, Yutao Shen is not the youngest rider, but he does possess some semi-useful qualities. The priority for this season is to gain experience and finish races, nothing more, nothing less.
Previous team: None
Guangtong Ma
4.000
29yo
Free
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
70
66
68
63
70
69
72
54
74
74
64
68
66
Quick analysis: The last rider on the 2024 Duvel-Tsingtao roster is a serviceable lead-out rider in Guangtong Ma. While he will struggle to punch a hole through any wind, he is at least passable on hills to get his sprint leaders to the finish. Ma is not expected to do anything aside from support Zhao and Van der Sande to let them have at it, while adding some mentorship capabilities for our younger Chinese riders.
Previous team: None
DOMESTIC QUOTA COUNTER:11.5 / 18 (63.8%)
2024 TEAM PRESENTATION
The Full 2024 Team
Nat.
Name
FL
MO
HI
TT
ST
RS
RC
CB
SP
AC
FG
DH
PR
OVR
Age
Wage
Dion Smith
69
78
75
68
72
74
75
59
66
74
75
71
65
76.33
31
€150,000
Xianjing Lyu
67
75
77
65
75
76
74
50
63
74
71
74
67
76.15
26
€200,000
Bert Van Lerberghe
74
60
66
66
75
74
74
77
75
73
68
65
68
75.36
32
€80,000
Jingbiao Zhao
74
58
65
66
68
74
74
58
77
81
56
71
78
75.33
29
€120,000
Quinten Hermans
73
66
75
61
75
77
67
62
69
76
73
76
64
74.96
29
€50,000
Timo Roosen
74
59
71
63
71
73
74
75
66
71
76
64
67
74.32
31
€50,000
Mike Aaron Egger
66
75
74
55
70
76
71
59
64
74
73
65
55
74.11
31
€30,000*
Frederico Figueiredo
72
75
72
71
76
74
75
54
58
67
66
68
71
74.03
33
€50,000
Sulkhan Akhmaevi
68
71
68
77
69
69
71
60
61
65
63
63
73
73.7
27
€50,000
Tosh Van der Sande
73
63
68
56
75
70
71
64
77
76
52
58
56
73.57
34
€50,000
Stan Dewulf
74
66
71
67
75
76
70
72
70
71
76
69
66
73.13
27
€50,000
Christophe Noppe
75
61
69
62
74
73
68
73
75
73
66
68
63
72.57
30
€50,000
King Lok Cheung
74
58
66
76
70
72
67
56
62
64
63
71
76
71.97
33
€70,000
Guangtong Ma
70
66
68
63
70
69
72
54
74
74
64
68
66
71.37
29
€0
Marco Brenner
66
69
68
67
68
68
67
51
66
68
69
72
68
69.07
22
€100,000**
Gianluca Pollefliet
69
54
60
58
66
68
63
69
70
68
62
60
64
68.4
22
€50,000
Yutao Shen
65
63
66
57
68
68
71
52
54
63
65
62
60
65.71
24
€0
Loaned out:
Stan Van Tricht
71
68
70
62
71
72
69
65
71
75
70
65
63
72.33
25
€25,000***
*We pay half of Egger's total €60,000 wage
**We pay €100,000 of Brenner's €245,000 wage
***We pay half of Van Tricht's €50,000 wage
FINAL THOUGHTS
The plan this offseason was to build a roster capable of both making our sponsors proud (50%+ domestic focus) and getting us into the PCT at first time of asking.
While we achieved the home country ambitions, the rest of the CT division managers certainly are getting wiser, and our initial roster looks to be slightly above average but not by much. I like our stage race contingent, with Smith among the top GC riders in the division, along with two capable domestiques in Figueiredo and Egger, but others have had similar laser focus on the mountains.
In the hills, we likely won't able to compete with the likes of Eiking, Moscon or Bystrom, but in longer races with steeper hills, Lyu can punch above his weight (ba-dum-tss ). Hermans provides wild card possibilities if he's feeling well on the day and can make it into a breakaway.
We've never been a fan of devoting large wages to time trials, so didn't this year. Same with sprints, which have historically been a crapshoot. Instead, we focused on cobbles, very on-brand for a Belgian team. Van Lerberghe was marked early on as a key target and we were thrilled to secure him for such a cheap wage, along with three useful helpers in Roosen, Noppe and Dewulf. Then we saw Zepuntke in the division...
Overall, management is looking forward to the season with a likeable squad, with youth on our side. We just hope the PCM gods smile kindly on us - rest assured we'll be hoping to get them lightly buzzed on Duvel before simming the races
Really nice set up with great faith put in the Belgian - Chinese combination. I think Zhao is a very nice signing and should be in a good position to receive favorable game treatment. I would bet on him to outscore Lyu, who I fear isn't strong enough for the hard punchy races but isn't fast enough for the easier ones.
I think your assessment of the overall squad is right on, a few things go right and you are definitely in the promotion battle but if they don't it will be more of a build season.
You covered well the Belgian-Chinese focus of your team. I guess you have a lot to look forward to this season and not only. Good luck in the new season!
The squad will definitely be in contention in all terrains, something that I always want to do when building team. You might just be one big leader away from being a sure promotion contender this season, but depth also pays off, and I wont's surprised if you end up knocking on the door to the Top 5 anyway.
FINAL TRANSFERS + TEAM PRESENTATION 
). Hermans provides wild card possibilities if he's feeling well on the day and can make it into a breakaway.
