@SotD - Cheers bud, I quite like the look of Poole looking into the future, but it is a big trade off to go away from 2-3 more solid depth pieces or even a subtop leader to get him. We looked at Ponomar but his price quickly inflated massively. I like his backup stats, but it’s an investment for sure, for 3 seasons!

@quadsas - I really appreciate the criticism, it creates an opportunity to explain. I saw Carapaz going for 220k+ and thought, that’s not something I’m onboard with, and needed to transition GC leader options. We missed out on Hirt earlier in the window (which in hindsight, would’ve been a great one to keep going with), and there were no other competent leaders left at that point. To make the change, Romo had to be on the block, and while we possibly could’ve gotten a little money in addition for Romo, it was a mid/late window move and so there was a difficulty in getting Karlsson at all. I agree that long-term, Romo is certainly the best option. However, if you look at the comparison of Romo + Carapaz at an overpay vs Karlsson + Bettiol + another 70k wages being used on a domestique, I’m pretty happy with how the window ended up for this season (as I say, long-term I’ll be missing Romo).

The short answer on if the team goals look more likely than last season's, is no.

When viewing the team's goals, you will notice there is a heavy emphasis on the hilly races without a time trial. Heading into the transfer season, there was a clear intention to get a top-class PCT puncheur, along the lines of a Van Niekerk or Eiking or even De Bie, who were all available in free agency. The goals looked attainable when the team was in the hunt for these options, and even better when Javier Romo was secured via transfer. But alas, team construction took priority and Romo was shifted for Faglum Karlsson, who also had to be prioritised in other mountainous races/tours and won't even make the journey to the Balkans where he secured an 11th place GC result in 2024.

All of the hilly goal races will be a major question mark as to how Bettiol will do in a leadership capacity. With his support crew of Lyu, Blouwe and Hermans, he'll certainly have some punchy backing, but it will be very interesting to see if Bettiol manages to get results this season.

In Denmark, Willwohl is expected to be one of the few pure sprinters sent to the race as it is a lengthy tour without a chance of securing the win due to the TT - we hold out minor hopes that he will be a nuisance in a number of stages and potentially have a shot at the points jersey.

As far as the team standings, top 15 is a tricky ask for a promoting side with a balanced approach to team-building, balancing the present and future. All goals look challenging this year - team management will look to improve in the future.