fenian_1234 wrote:
Vespa Aprilia Racing would be interested in bringing Stefano Pirazzi to our team for the right price for both teams. Unfortunately, Gianpaolo Caruso's salary as good as rules out a move from us for him.
I'll listen to basically any offer for Pirazzi. I'm sure that we can work on a deal once the transfer season has begun.
And yeah, I'm aware of Caruso's wage - and I'm worried about it...
ember wrote:
Seeing your renewals, I'm pretty sure I did some serious mistakes in the first round of negotiations
Looking forward to see where Caruso ends up, as he's pretty much your only top rider as of now. But I suspect that will change through the transfer season
I'd say that if anyone made a mistake - it's me.
No doubt that the Caruso case will be interesting. My intention is to get rid of him during the transfer season, but as mentioned above - his wage could cause problems. Hopefully it'll turn out well in the end, as the plan is to bring in a couple of new strong riders. We'll see what happens.
Sykkel_Freak wrote:
Sergio Marinangeli is growing older and we are looking for a decent replacement for him this season. Dall'Antonia is a very similar rider and has the ability to be good at the end of a GT. Obviously, Pro Team Venchi - Sugoi is very interested in signing him if a decent deal with Cisco Cycling Team is possible.
I'd definitely listen to an offer.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Team Metinvest-Emirates already showed interest in Cisco riders Dall'Antonia and Niemec and we still keep that in mind, they sound like a nice transfer options if the circumstances are good.
Anyway, congratulations for a smooth renewals and good luck for 2013.
Since we discussed it a bit earlier, I'll give you a slight priority. Dall'Antonia seems to be popular, so I'll have to wait and see a bit on that part.
I'm glad to hear that you're still interested in Niemiec though. I really need to get him out of the squad, so I'll happily negotiate a friendly deal during the transfers.
Avin Wargunnson wrote:
Team Metinvest-Emirates already showed interest in Cisco riders Dall'Antonia and Niemec and we still keep that in mind, they sound like a nice transfer options if the circumstances are good.
Anyway, congratulations for a smooth renewals and good luck for 2013.
Since we discussed it a bit earlier, I'll give you a slight priority.
You wont be surprised to hear that this would break transfer rules Giving priority based on pre-transfers contact may not be as bad as actually agreeing a deal pre-transfers, but it is still not to be done.
Having been accidently leaked out already last week, the new paychecks aren't very big news. Still definitely worth a short announcement, for those who haven't seen yet.
Metinvest-Emirates worried about Niemec wage, new potential target found?
To be honest, Metinvest team is far from happy with the wage negotiations outcome for a polish veteran Przemyslaw Niemiec. As our main transfer target is also a stage racer, the Pole could only serve a role of a luxury domestique for him and the team. And we feel that compared to this role, Niemec is on the very high wage, so we will look to find the possible replacment in the free agency, on the lesser wage. But as transfer window can go strange ways, nothing is definite and Przemyslaw remains one of the possibilities.
On the other hand, talented Italian Eros Capecchi seems like a much better transfer target, especially when we think that former target from Cisco Tiziano Dall'Antonia can be on the way to a better team, for much more money.
We are ready to negotiate with Cisco during the transfer season and hold the good relation between the two teams.
I'm aware that Niemiec's wage is a bit higher than it should be. However, I'm just looking to offload him - so basically any offer will do. Perhaps we can still work on an acceptable deal once the transfers have started?
With experience from last year's transfer season, I'd say that similarly strong free agents will go for roughly the same wage. But that's obviously completely up to you.
Regarding Capecchi - I'm certainly willing to discuss a transfer. I wouldn't mind keeping him in the team though.
We understand this situation and we will be in contact as soon as the transfer season starts, but the potential moves should wait for outcome of the other circumstaances, maybe for the 2nd half of the transfers. And maybe Metinvest is not the only team interested in the Pole, he is great rider, only problem is his wage combined with our possible stronger designated leader for same terrain.
After being released from Vesuvio ahead of this season, we picked him up from the free agency pool. At minimum wage, we consider him a real steal - knowing that he'll be a very important piece in the team time trials.
Aleksandr Dyachenko - € 140,000
Probably the signing we're most satisfied with. Being an excellent climber and an okay timetriallist, he'll actually get the chance to lead the team in a few races. Also the perfect lead figure for our new Kazakh focus.
Aleksandr Efimkin - € 315,000
At a price of € 1,800,000, surely the biggest investment this transfer season. We've had him in mind ever since setting up the goals, which we surely have great chances of achieving now - with him in the squad. Leader in all the hilly classics, being one of the strongest classics riders in the entire division.
Ulugbek Galiev - € 50,000
One of the many climbing talents in the team. Spent last season with the Swedish Saab-Scania team, now known as Swedbank-PEAB - developing a bit on the way to becoming a superb domestique in the mountains.
Tyron Giogieri - € 50,000 (loaned out)
Very talented young climber. Could be rather useful for us already this year, but we've decided to loan him out to Die Berg Komt Er in the Continental Tour - where he'll be able to reach his full potential. Possibly a future leader in the team. Definitely in some low category races at least.
Dmitriy Gruzdev - € 50,000
Another big target before the transfers. Getting him for minimum wage was a very nice unexpected surprise. Will, together with Clesen, make sure that we wont be as weak in the team time trials as we were last year.
Bjørn Tore Holm - € 0 (loaned in)
Loaned in from Aker-MOT in the ProTour, to gain some experience. Already now a pretty decent climber though, so we'll certainly have use of him as a helper. An important part of our mountains squad.
Mikhail Kochetkov - € 50,000 (loaned out)
Yet another promising youngster. However, unlike most of the others - his strength isn't on the climbs. Instead, he'll be an important part in time trials and flat races. Will, just like Giogieri, spend this season riding for Die Berg Komt Er.
Roman Senyenov - € 50,000
Handy classics talent with great potential. Might be loaned out this year, but nothing has been decided yet. The plan is that he'll be a luxury domestique for another promising classics specialist, who we still haven't been able to sign. Also has the potential to win races himself.
Alexandre Shushemoin - € 50,000 (loaned out)
A real quality rider for this sort of wage. Wont be seen in our colours this year though, as he'll be racing for Aker-MOT in the PT to fully bloom out. Probably the best domestique we'll have next year.
Nikita Umerbekov - € 50,000 (loaned out)
Last but not least! Similar to Senyenov in terms of strength orientation. Mobil-Castrol Cycling will make sure that he'll gain a bit of experience before joining the big ranks next year. Part of our future classics squad.
Aleksandr Efimkin - the new big name in the squad.
To make room for these, some riders have also left. Capecchi will look for new challenges with the Metinvest-Emirates team, while Niemiec heads for a better role in Credexbank and the Continental division. Also gone are Dall'Antonia and Niemiec - who have both chosen Mobil-Castrol as next destination.
It meanwhile looks more and more like Gianpaolo Caruso will stay in the team. His high wage seems to have scared off most potential buyers, so he's likely to be the team's GC leader for another year.
Edited by Pellizotti2 on 22-01-2013 11:12
When realising that Alexey Lutsenko was going to be too expensive, we moved focus over to this youngster. Not yet fully developed, but very promising for the hilly classics. With a bit more experience and some help with his training, he could actually become our future leader in the hilly classics.
Andrea Manfredi - € 50,000
Yet another bright-looking talent. We were surprised by the lack of competition for him, considering his excellent potential capacity. A superb climbing domestique in a few years' time.
Fabio Taborre - € 150,000
The solution to the problem of Salerno being the only decent helper for Efimkin. A quality rider for the classics, which will result in leadership in a few races. Might get a little help with the training next year, to improve even further, towards a possible absolute leader's role in the team.
Favilli strengthens the team's classics department.
Other new additions to the squad includes five loanees: Karel Hnik, Daniel Vesely, Michael Hepburn, Josh Atkins and Patrick Schelling. The latter from UBS and the other four from Milka.
One man, Mauro Santambrogio, has meanwhile left the team due to financial reasons. We wish him the best of luck in his new team: Meiji - Cannondale.
Edited by Pellizotti2 on 22-01-2013 11:13
With the busy christmas time now behind, it's time for a delayed announcement of the 2013 squad.
Leaders:
Aleksandr Efimkin improves our chances in the hilly classics substantially by joining us from Milka-AVG. A lot of bumpy one day races and a few of the tougher stage races are his targets for this year. We're hoping for a chunk of points from him, given the rather large sum we payed for him.
In the mountains, we'll continue to rely on last year's big leader, Gianpaolo Caruso. Older and a bit weaker now, but still one of the absolute best climbers in the division. He's likely to focus on races where the competition may not be as fierce as in the most popular races.
Lieutenants:
Aleksandr Dyachenko will be vice-leader in the mountainous stage races, sort of like Niemiec was last year. We've pinpointed a few races that should suit his abilities well. Tour of America is likely to be his main goal, knowing the competition probably wont be absolute top level.
Fabio Taborre will have a similar role, but in the classics. Captaincy in some lower category races, and a luxury helper in the most important ones. Hopefully source for at least a few points throughout the year.
Third in line for the mountains is Marco Osella, mainly remembered for his stunning victory in the brutal Transfagarasan GP classic last season. He wont get the opportunity to defend the title, but will instead focus on other climby races. Possibly also going to the Tour of America.
Cristiano Salerno may have been degraded from last year's role as classics captain, but he still has a high position in the team. Will team up with Taborre in the less contested races and help Efimkin in the tougher ones.
Still improving:
Elia Favilli came in as one of the last riders and leaves immediately for a year with Venchi in the ProTour. Once fully developed, he'll be an excellent resource in the classics - possessing the important combination of good climbing and a nice kick at the end of races.
Another one who goes directly on loan is Alexandre Shushemoin. As much as I would've loved to have him available as a luxury climbing domestique, he's better of reaching his full potential before cementing his place in the squad.
One of Caruso's most important helpers last year, Mattia Pozzo will also spend this season in the ProTour. Thanks to a friendly deal with Puma-SAP, he'll be even better when he returns next year.
The same also goes for Edoardo Girardi. UBS has agreed to take him on for a year, helping him improve. It'll take two years for him to fully bloom out, but it's going to be worth it. A very complete domestique in the making.
Roman Senyenov rides as a neo-pro this year, but is already a fairly decent rider. One of the most important riders in the future classics squad we're building up.
Former Italian Tyron Giogieri, now riding under an Albanian license, wont be representing our colours this year, but is still one of the signings we're the most satisfied with. Die Berg Komt Er will ensure that the young climber's development kicks off towards a bright future.
Andrea Manfredi reminds of Giogieri in many ways. They're likely to form a perfect climbing domestique duo in future seasons - providing better help than our current luxury helpers are capable of. Also a very handy timetriallist, which certainly increases his chances of possibly becoming a leader one day.
Already known from last year is Luca Sterbini. The promising timetriallist was sort of the forgotten rider, spending most of his time at the back of the races - still learning to ride among the pros. Not capable of much right now, but surely one to look out for in the future.
Stefano Agostini also enters his second season with the team. Now slightly stronger than before, and ready to back up his team mates in the lumpy classics. Still needs another season or two before he'll be able to produce any results of his own.
Enrico Battaglin follows the same footsteps, as he continues to improve his climbing more and more. Will be a valuable helper in all the mountainous races.
Ulugbek Galiev is one of our most interesting riders according to me. Couldn't quite find his legs with Saab-Scania last year, but will hopefully feel more comfortable here, with our new Kazakh philosophy. A much better domestique than he may seem, actually.
Mikhail Kochetkov follows Giogieri to Die Berg Komt Er for now, but will return again after improving a little. Unlike basically all the others in the squad, he isn't a climber. Instead, he'll boost us in the time trials.
Nikita Umerbekov is also on loan for now, representing Mobil-Castrol Cycling this year. Talented climber with a good kick, just like Favilli. A level lower however, so he's likely heading for a luxury domestique role.
Domestiques:
Moris Possoni was on the verge of leaving during the transfer season, but things changed and Santambrogio left instead. We're just happy to still have him in the squad, as he's an extremely important helper in the mountains.
Nick Clesen is currently the only national champion we have in the team. Just the fact that he has ridden for reigning ProTour champions Vesuvio tells you a bit about his quality. His task in the team is to strengthen up the team's quality in the team time trials.
Dmitriy Gruzdev has exactly the same orders. As soon as there's a team time trial present in a race, he'll be there to boost us up. Wont be able to do much besides that, but it doesn't really matter - considering that he agreed to minimum wage.
Loaned in:
Michael Hepburn comes in from Milka-AVG, giving us another useful timetriallist. His goal is just to watch and learn from the more experienced riders. We're happy to have him in the squad, knowing what a bright future he has ahead.
Daniel Vesely joins from the same team - Milka-AVG. Will probably find himself a little lonely while trying his luck in the sprints, but could possibly profit from that. He'll have all the freedom he wants on the flat, as long as he's ready to do it all by himself.
Josh Atkins is basically a copy of Hepburn. He'll help in the team time trials and then try his best to stay with the field in all other races.
Karel Hnik is a bit similar to Vesely, just with cobbled classics as speciality. Since we're not riding any, he'll just collect bottles for the rest of the team.
Patrick Schelling comes across from UBS, as part of an exchange deal where Girardi goes the other way. The highly talented climber will be a good resource for us - helping out our leaders in all the tough stage races.
Björn Tore Holm is a part of a similar deal, involving Aker-MOT and Shushemoin. Just like Schelling, he'll join the climbing core that backs up Caruso.
The new season is just days away from starting, and we've certainly got some nice moments to look forward to. One in particular, as we've been granted with a wildcard to the first of the three Grand Tours: the Giro d'Italia!
The nine men who'll represent us in the big field are the following:
Gianpaolo Caruso Aleksandr Efimkin Marco Osella Aleksandr Dyachenko Fabio Taborre Cristiano Salerno Moris Possoni Nick Clesen Dmitriy Gruzdev
The most interesting thing to follow will be if Caruso is able to compete for a position in the Top 10 / 15 overall in a race where many big names are expected to turn up. If not, he might be able to hunt a stage win in the third week's mountains.
That is what the other eight will do. Efimkin has his eyes on two stages in particular: stage four to the San Luca climb in Bologna and stage 10, finishing inside Chieti after the steep climb up Via Tricalle. Both finishes that suit him very well.
The rest will cover the breakaways, and hope to be in the right one(s). Winning a stage against all the ProTour teams is obviously a very difficult task, but with lots of luck and right timing - who knows?
One thing is for sure: it'll be a fun race to follow!
Edited by Pellizotti2 on 16-01-2013 20:51
Efimkin set for leader's role as season begins in earnest
We've already kicked off the season down in Adelaide, Australia with the flat Down Under Classic, but the upcoming Tour Down Under is where things will get rolling for real.
Hepburn showed the team colours by taking part in the early breakaway, but other than that - we didn't get much out of the flat classic. Not that we really expected anything, given the fact that we don't have any sprinter.
Anyway, back to Tour Down Under. No one else than Efimkin will lead us during the week-long race, hoping to go for a stage win and a top result in the general classification.
Our full squad:
Aleksandr Efimkin Fabio Taborre Cristiano Salerno Roman Senyenov Andrea Manfredi Dmitriy Gruzdev Daniel Vesely
Taborre and Salerno in particular will provide him with high quality support on the two hardest stages, while also perhaps trying to snatch a few points themselves.
The rest are completely focused on helping Alex any way possible. He's the one with the capacity to, with a bit of luck, actually win the race. Vesely will be given a bit of freedom on the flatter stages, but we're not expecting anything.
Alex Efimkin has left his mark on the Tour Down Under, after just two days of racing. After an easy opening day for the sprinters, we reached the first of two more difficult stages.
The tough stage with an uphill finish in Stirling provided us with a lot of action in the final kilometers. None of the many attacks turned out successful, and we were left with a reduced peloton sprinting for the victory.
Efimkin seemed to have lost his chances when he got stuck behind German champion Dietmar Mehr-Wenige (Adira-Isq) and Carlos Betancourt (Hollister) near the kilometer kite. Instead it was Taborre who seemed to be able to compete for the stage win.
Efimkin finally found a way through however, and stormed past everyone to win the stage in front of British champ Alex Dowsett (Jaguar). Rui Costa (CSC-Orbea) took third, while Taborre faded down to fifth place.
More or less exactly the start to the race we wanted. Efimkin is currently tied for the race lead with the opening stage's winner: Francesco Gavazzi (UPC), who is the one wearing it. Perfect for us, as we don't really need in until after the stage to Willunga Hill!
The premiere race ends with a second place overall for Efimkin, who couldn't quite match British champion Dowsett on the queen stage to Willunga Hill. The two went head to head also in the uphill finish to Stirling, but this time the roles were flipped.
It was all decided on the final climb up to the top of Willunga Hill. Costa seemed to be on his way to winning the stage when passing under the kilometer mark, but Dowsett and Efimkin stormed back at him on the steep gradients.
Efimkin was positioned a little further back than Dowsett, and didn't have the legs to throw himself past before the line. The stage win thus went to Jaguar, along with the overall title thanks to better total placing.
Taborre and Salerno also finished well in the tough finish, taking 5th and 10th. Unfortunately, no gaps were registered behind them, so none of them were granted any notable overall result. Nevertheless a promising sign for future races, where they'll be invaluable for Efimkin.
Galiev, Manfredi, Schelling and, in particular, Vesely have all shown flashes of their talent during the first four out of twelve stages in the Vuelta al Tachira. The latter through the sprint finishes and the other three with good work in different breakaways.
The following riders are currently in Venezuela:
Enrico Battaglin Alexsandr Dyachenko Ulugbek Galiev Andrea Manfredi Marco Osella Patrick Schelling Daniel Vesely
On the opening day, Schelling showed our colours in the early breakaway and stole some intermediate bonus seconds, but unfortunately couldn't hang with the peloton after the catch.
In the following mass sprint finish, Vesely cleverly chose the perfect wheel and crossed the line in an amazing fourth place, beaten only by De Fauw (Bintang), Kip (ING) and Weylandt (Bouygues)!
Stage two was more or less a carbon copy. Manfredi represented us in the early breakaway, and won the intermediate sprint before dropping back into the field. Vesely then showed good speed in the final sprint again, this time finishing in 6th place quite a bit behind the winner Serebriakov (Hollister).
Same also goes for stage three. Galiev made the early move and featured in the long breakaway together with Repsol's Acevedo. He fell short of first place at the intermediate sprint, but still gained a few bonus seconds.
A chaotic finish was later managed perfectly by Vesely, while several favourites fell and lost ground. Our Czech loanee finished 6th in the sprint again, a long way back on stage winner Avelino (Prio-Porto). Dyachenko and Osella luckily also made it through the crashes and stayed in the pack.
Last day of flat then, and we were again represented in the break by Schelling. He took the first of two intermediate sprints, but the group never stood any chance and got caught well before the finish.
Vesely unfortunately couldn't quite repeat the previous performances in the sprint, but still finished in an impressive 9th place, while Kip went on to win the stage further up front.
The bonus seconds we've collected throughout these first four days have resulted in three riders inside the top 10 with the mountains coming up next. It's surely just for one day, but it's looking good so far nevertheless. Time for Dyachenko and Osella to take over now and continue the good results!
Schelling win makes up for disappointing Tachira GC
Both of our two co-captains; Dyachenko and Osella, have proved unable to compete with the best as the Vuelta al Tachira has entered the first part of it's decisive phase. Both lost truckloads of time on especially stage 8, where a large number of favourites escaped on the crucial climb and never got caught. Inactivity and unawareness caused us to miss the move.
Luckily, the race has been salvaged by another one of our loanees: Patrick Schelling. As previously in this race, he took place in the long breakaway along with three others as we reached the ninth race day.
Throughout the day, he picked up plenty of points for the King of the Mountains classification, and managed to take over it at the end of the stage - just one point ahead of Kenya Air's Iker Camaño!
But that's not even the best part! An impressive effort on the final climb allowed him to just about stay clear over the top together with fellow escapee Camier (Bouygues). He then accelerated again on the way down, opening up a slight gap over the rest down into the finish city!
A final burst from GC dominants Marquez (HTC) and Pellizotti (WWE) almost shut him down in the very last kilometer, but the young Swiss timed his move to perfection and held on to win the stage in front of the big names!
The GC might still not look great, but a stage win and at least a day in the King of the Mountains jersey makes up for it a little at least. The only thing needed for this to turn perfect now is a successful escape from either Dyachenko or Osella, but that's obviously just dreaming.
Giving priority based on pre-transfers contact may not be as bad as actually agreeing a deal pre-transfers, but it is still not to be done.
Nick Clesen - 
Aleksandr Dyachenko - 
Aleksandr Efimkin - 
Tyron Giogieri - 
Bjørn Tore Holm - 
Daniel Vesely
Patrick Schelling
