#8: Apr. 3, 2014 -- Full Calendar Announced
After we were able to secure a few of our targets in the transfer season, we thought long and hard on what the fitness schedules of our riders should be. In the end, we felt that we made the best decisions that we could. As far as our calendar outside of C2HC races, we mainly chose our races based on these philosophies:

- Small Tours that we could Podium First
- Mostly C2 Races with a few C1 Tours here and there
- Avoiding flat races

In the end, while we can't dodge every weakness, we were able to craft a calendar that suited our team orientation, and we didn't have many race clashes either. However, we can already feel that competition will be stiff in certain races, but our riders are looking for the challenge. The full calendar can be found here and the announcement here.

#7: Mar. 24, 2014 -- Transfers, Part 2
It's been nearly two weeks in for the MG transfer season and most MG teams are just about finalized. Dell - 361° are still looking for a couple of pieces here and there, however, most of our leaders are set. Putting the wraps on the transfer season, here's what the manager had to say:
Positives
Getting a GC leader
Sticking to the sponsor nationalities for the most part, in a difficult market
Sealing up talents of the future
Negatives
Focused too much on outbidding
Failed to look outside NA and AS in the first week of transfers
Failed to get a decent sprinter
Didn't grasp the value of transfer money

So, with that being said, if you have yet to catch up with our transfer news, you can find it in this post (and further down if necessary).

547984 wrote:
Texas Instruments - Semiconductors/Calculators (Stem Technology)

In the frantic scramble for riders in free agency and transfers within the team during the transfer season, the team lacked the time to update the media on its signings. We've finally opened up our HQ once again to the media and for the next hour or so we will discuss the transfer period so far -- which after only one week, seemed to calm down quite a bit. The team is about 90% done with its goals for the period, but Dell - 361° manager has stated that there may still be one big piece coming in, depending on negotiations. Without further talking, here is a review of how the transfer period went.





Saul Raisin was probably our number one transfer target this year. Coming from the US, a region important to Dell, he is the absolute leader for all Mountainous stage races, and will most likely help us the most in achieving our goals. The veteran can climb and TT with the best of the CT riders, but his ability to get over punchy hills is a bit lacking. Nonetheless, we pursued him at all costs, and in the end he agreed to sign with us for 175,000. Maybe that is overvalued, but no rider goes cheap in the American market.





Besides the addition of Raisin, we also picked up three other solid riders from free agency. First, Joey Rosskopf agreed to sign for 110,000 here at Dell - 361° this season. He's a great all-rounder, able to climb and TT. Also, he is only 25 and will be looking to improve in the years to come.



The next important target we signed was American TT specialist Freddy Cruz, coming here for a wage of 100,000. Like Rosskopf, he is only 25 and could get better in the future. If we send him to the right races, he could be one of the top TT men in the CT.



We were also happy to sign Chinese sprinter Xiaoyong Dong, for minimum wage. He's certainly not the fastest, but 361° wanted at least some Chinese riders, and Dong's sprinting ability might be able to get him in the top 10 if we send him to the right races. We didn't originally envision a sprinting team, so he may or may not be our leader depending on what we intend to do in the next week. His only weakness would be his descending.





Besides the overpriced free agency period, the team acquired some key pieces through trades with other teams as well. Firstly, we secured Craig Lewis from Project: Africa, who excels on all terrains.

Libin Chen is probably our biggest trade, coming from Oz Cycling Project. He may just be a mediocre sprinter now, but down the road he'll turn into one of the best Asian sprinters in the game. 250,000 wasn't cheap, but it was certainly worth it.

AMEXpc offloaded to us Carlos Ospina and Maher Hasanoui. Ospina is getting on in age, but he'll help our efforts in the punchy races, as we are quite lacking in that department. Hasanoui is an upcoming stage race talent, and we are excited to see what he can develop into. Both riders aren't important to the sponsors, but at minimum wage no one can complain.

Last but not least, we got for free Tuguldur Tuulhangai from La Vie Claire, a solid Mongolian sprinter who may lead us in some races.





Besides the aforementioned signings, other riders also agreed to join our team for this season. Fan Hsin Chu signed here for 55,000, boosting our mountain train. Likewise, the signing of Sho Hatsuyama also improved our climbing, and he came here for minimum wage.

Both Eric Young and Luke Keough signed here at Dell - 361° for 110,000 and 85,000 respectively. Both will most likely turn out to be good sprinters in the future, as they may form the core of our team for many years to come.

Lastly, Zhou Guozhang, another sprinting prospect, signed for minimum wage.





Well, the listed riders above only total up to 14. Clearly, that is not enough to continue onto the season. Luckily, our manager has left plenty cap for another signing, transfer, or stagiare! You'll just have to wait and see, as our transfers are not quite done yet! Stay tuned!

With a bit of extra transfer money left, we gave up our search for that top sprinter and decided to add to our climbing depth by transferring Brice Feillu for 120,000 from Risa - Ergon. We will pay him a 70,000 wage this year.



That brings us to the minimum rider amount at 15 riders, but we are not quite done yet with transfers. Dell - 361° manager has speculated that maybe one more rider will join the team, as well as a stagiare or two. To read on his thoughts for the transfer season as a whole, you can always check our newsbox here.

knockout wrote:
You can be called lucky to get Feillu for 120,000. I have bidded up to 170,000 earlier but that wasnt enough at that point so i had to look for different options...