Good Energy is a company based in the South West of the United Kingdom, focused on providing 100% renewable energy to homes and businesses throughout the country. Founded by Juliet Davenport, the company now supplies over 40,000 customers and 59,000 homes.
Not only does the company provide renewable energy, but Good Energy are dedicated to setting in motion changes in the way energy is generated and used.
With their own wind and solar farms powering their future, it's their hope that by supporting British cyclists, they can power other people's futures.
The team run under the same management now since the 2009 season continues to have links with a provider of bicycle equipment throughout the United Kingdom.
Leisure Lakes Bikes was set up over 30 years ago by a group of four brothers. The Noys now have expanded over the generations and are a true family run business. With 8 stores throughout the United Kingdom and a passion for the outdoors, it was about time to start advertising through conventional bicycle methods - sponsoring a team.
With the national squad of Herbalife - Leisure Lakes Bikes folding at the end of 2013, the company decided to go big and sponsor a PT level squad. Providing not just the import route for the bikes for this season and technical equipment, many of the bike mechanics will be pinched from the company during the season.
Confusingly thought of as a Belgian brand of bicycle, this California based company will be providing the team with stunning steeds for the season to come. Ritte started off with humble routes in 2008 designing cool, unique and quality bicycles for the most demanding of customer, and has now gone worldwide to spread the style.
The American connections won't be ending there, with Sram and Zipp providing the technical equipment for the season.
Minor sponsors also include: Filmop, Bottoli, Giordana, Cleaver Cycling and Elite.
After a dismal season in terms of wins last year, the management at Good Energy have decided to re-focus on the strengths of the squad. Positives of the year were Ponzi's continued performances, and the cobbled race results from Blythe, Rowe and Fenn.
Since competing at the Giro d'Italia for the first time, the squad has always won at least one stage and performed admirably with an under-dog GC approach. Unfortunately this past year was a flop. With no stage win, and nothing of note to talk of, this season our main goal of the year will revolve around the Giro.
Other goals for the squad have been selected mainly due to results from the previous years, and the expected renewals of certain riders.
2014 Season Goals
Win the Giro di Lombardia
Ever since the surprise 2nd place finish by Damiano Caruso at Lombardia, the race has held it's place firmly in the heart of the team. As we always aim to achieve more, there's only one place we can accept at this race, first.
Top Ten in Milan San Remo
With the emergence of Simone Ponzi as a fast finishing puncheur, and the depth of classics squad that can support him throughout the longest one day event, a Top Ten in this monument of cycling on Italian soil is a must.
Top Ten in Ronde van Vlaanderen
Although the East Midlands CiCle Classic runs much closer to home, the status of the Ronde cannot be ignored. As such, the three pronged attack of Blythe, Fenn and Rowe will take on the big names of the cobbles in another seasons campaign.
Win the Points Jersey at the Giro d'Italia
Hailing back to the days of Wiggle's Giro successes, Luke Rowe and Simone Ponzi will both be having a crack at this years Giro. With plenty of hilly and flat stages, and with a waning Damiano Cunego, there is a much more open field in the battle for points. With Rowe just missing out in a previous edition of the Giro, and Ponzi showing several glimpses of potential in the fight for a points jersey outright in other races, it seemed a logical goal to attack the Italian Grand Tour head on.
Top Ten in Team Rankings
As always, to be in the top flight of the cycling world is never enough, and the team will once more aim for a modest Top Ten overall.
Edited by rjc_43 on 04-03-2014 23:13
Having been on the squad since the 2009 season, Luke Rowe has firmly made the transition from purely sprinter with great success in the Pro Continental level during the 2011 season capped off by several stage wins in the Giro d'Italia. Having since stepped up to the Pro Tour permanently with the team, he's shown glimpses of his talent past, with an 8th place in this past years East Midlands CiCle Classic.
We're hoping with yet another season of experience under his belt, Luke steps up fully to the Pro Tour level. With his wage demands falling year on year, his place does seem pretty secure for the 2014 season.
Luke Rowe
10.03.1990
Rouleur
€270,000
2008 ~ Amateur
2009 ~ Wiggle - Premier Inn
2010 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2011 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2012 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2013 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2014 ~ Good Energy
2009 Best Result:
2.1 - Tour du Faso - 1st GC
2010 Best Result:
1.1 - Scandinavian Open - 1st
2011 Best Results:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 1st Stages 5, 9 & 10
1.HC - East Midlands CiCle Classic - 1st
1.NC - British Road Race Championships - 1st
2012 Best Results:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 4th Stage 10
2.GT - Tour de France - 4th Stage 13
1.PT - GP de Fourmies - 8th
2013 Best Result:
1.PT - East Midlands CiCle Classic - 8th
Simone Ponzi
Ever since the team decided to focus on hilly classics and took on board some Italian sponsors, Simone Ponzi has been the central figure to achieve results. Although riders such as Jaroslav Popovych and Mikhail Ignatiev have come through, no one has managed to maintain such a constant and reliable source of results and ranking points. With successes spanning the Giro, Tirreno Adriatico, Lombardia and Milan San Remo, Simone has shown the ability to perform across the board.
Coming off a season with a 2nd place at the National Championships and a 3rd at the Worlds, Simone is on target to win a jersey in the future. With his targets this season being the Points jersey in the Giro, the Win at Lombardia, and a Top Ten at Milan San Remo, the pressure is very much on. Wage demands for the coming season are expected to be similar to years gone by, though a raise wouldn't be a surprise due to his continued progression physically.
Simone Ponzi
17.01.1987
Puncheur
€580,000
2009 ~ Amateur
2010 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2011 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2012 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2013 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2014 ~ Good Energy
2010 Best Result:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 1st Stage 7
2.HC - Tour of Britain - 1st GC
2011 Best Results:
2.PT - Tirreno-Adriatico - 1st Stages 1 & 7
1.1 - Giro di Lago di Garda - 1st
2.HC - Tour of Britain - 3rd GC
2012 Best Results:
2.PT - Vuelta a la Region de Murcia - 1st Stage 1
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 1st Stage 8, 16th GC
1.PT - Seine - Marne - Seine - 2nd
1.MN - Giro di Lombardia - 4th
2013 Best Results:
1.PT - Badaling International - 3rd
2.PT - Tirreno-Adriatico - 2nd, 4th, 5th, 5th Stage Results
2.PT - Tirreno-Adriatico - 2nd GC
1.MN - Milan San Remo - 9th
1.WC - World Championship Road Race - 3rd
Adam Blythe
Adam Blythe is a relative newcomer to the team. Joining last season from the UK based Rapha-sponsored squad, it was definitely time for the Monaco based rider to race in the Pro Tour without relying solely on wildcards. A solid classics campaign from the 25 year old, added to by a late stage win near the end of the season, confirmed that he is very much here to stay.
With the very best cobbled riders in the peloton beginning to mature, it's only a matter of time before Adam scores the big one. We're hoping it will be this year.
Adam Blythe
01.10.1989
Northern Classics
€330,000
2010 ~ 100% ME
2011 ~ 100% ME - Procycling
2012 ~ Rapha Condor - Qhubeka
2013 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2014 ~ Good Energy
2010 Best Results:
1.1 - Scheldeprijs - 2nd
1.MN - Paris - Roubaix - 5th
2011 Best Results:
1.MN - Ronde van Vlaanderen - 28th
1.MN - Paris - Roubaix - 10th
2012 Best Result:
- -
2013 Best Results:
1.PT - Gent Wevelgem - 8th
1.PT - Omloop Het Nieuwsblad - 9th
1.PT - East Midlands CiCle Classic - 9th
Edited by rjc_43 on 23-01-2015 18:52
After many seasons of self designed jerseys and equipment, this season the team recruited OlegTinkov to produce a stunning piece of visual artistry. Showcasing the best design work from Ritte, with sponsorship colours from LeisureLakesBikes and Good Energy, the jersey for this season is one of the best in the peloton. It certainly won't be missed!
With great pride, Good Energy took part in rider renewals and have formalised an action plan for the coming transfer period. Only one rider didn't have his contract renewed, and Marco Zafferani, the current San Marino RR National Champion is searching for a team for next season.
Of the rest of the riders, below is their respective wages, ages, averages and transfer status. Make of this as you will!
In the end, all it took was one simple contract offer to Jacopo Guarnieri for the deal to be sealed. No too-ing and fro-ing, no revised offers, just a plain old pow-wow accompanied by the remaining bottle of San Pellegrino sparkling water. And so it is with great pleasure that Good Energy present our newest team leader, an out and out sprinter, Jacopo Guarnieri, alongside Paolo Scarponi, touted to be leading the team at the Tour de France this season.
Jacopo Guarnieri
Jacopo has ridden for a fair few teams in his past, with defunct Vespa-Aprilia Racing paying his wages for the previous two seasons, although a stint at Pearl Adidas to mature helped along the way. With relatively few results to his name, we're hoping that as he's fully matured he can cope with the pressure of leading an Italian team in Italian races. Whether the big classic is on the cards or not is yet to be decided, as the hills of Milan San Remo are testing to say the least, but there is high expectations that the "new Bennati" will be at the Giro alongside a strong lead out team of Classics specialists Luke Rowe and Adam Blythe.
[IMG-l]https://i944.photobucket.com/albums/ad282/PCMDailyCleaverManGame/GuarnieriCard_zps20dc429b.png[/IMG-l] Jacopo Guarnieri
14.08.1987
Sprinter
€500,000
2012 ~ Pearl Adidas
2013 ~ Vespa - Aprilia Racing
2014 ~ Good Energy
2012 Best Result:
2.PT - FBD Eire Tour - 8th Stage 1
Paolo came to us as an understudy in latter part of the season of 2009 as an apprentice bike mechanic. After a short spin around the block with Leonardo Bertagnolli to check gearing lengthened into an epic 180km mountainous training ride, he soon found his job description changed to "climber". Still handy with a pedal spanner and a torque wrench, Paolo is constantly searching for the latest weight saving piece of kit to ensure he gets the best performance out of himself and his bike.
Having appeared at the Giro d'Italia every season since 2010, with a best place finish of 35th in 2012, this might be the first season Paolo skips the race in order to focus primarily on the Tour. With a much-anticipated pre-season training camp on the season for the San Marino climber, the team has every hope that he can surprise even the wiliest of pro in the biggest race of the season.
Paolo Scarponi
25.11.1989
Climber
€95,000
2010 ~ Wiggle Pro Cycling Team
2011 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2012 ~ Wiggle - San Pellegrino
2013 ~ Wiggle Professional Cycling Team
2014 ~ Good Energy
2010 Best Result:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 81st GC
2011 Best Result:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 88th GC
2012 Best Results:
2.PT - Volta Ciclista a Catalunya - 1st KoM
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 35th GC
2.GT - Vuelta a Espana - 36th GC
2.GT - Tour de France - 45th GC
2013 Best Results:
2.GT - Giro d'Italia - 55th GC
2.GT - Vuelta a Espana - 31st GC
1.PT - GP Liechtenstein - 19th
2.PT - Vuelta a Colombia - 13th GC
Edited by rjc_43 on 23-01-2015 20:35
Not gonna lie, I'm going to find it quite weird seeing a ManGame peloton without Wiggle!
SportingNonsense
I second that. Does this mean there will no longer be any Wiggle Diggle action?
That said Good Energy is a funny sponsor for a cycling team.
roturn
This is now lovely looking HQ.
Interesting change of sponsors, can we expect you to step out from black kit and go green?
Anyway, good luck in 2014, I hope we will see each other in the tranfers after last year's successful talks. By the way, when I look at the history of your team, how the hell you got all that Italian talents prior to 2010? Grippo, Costagi, Caruso, Ponzi. That is still core of your team.
Avin Wargunnson
Wow! This is just one of the coolest shirts in the ManGame, which features so many great shirts! Really love the colors and design and stuff. Great work, Oleg. And congrats rjc
tsmoha
Like the others. Shame to see Wiggle go, but Good Energy looks like a great option and the jersey is phenomenal! New-age Mapei style!
niconico
That is indeed a remarkable jersey! And really nice equipment as well, great job Oleg!
cunego59
+1 to all the jersey comments, that is some stunning work from Oleg indeed. Nobody should miss Good Energy in the peloton in 2014.
Avin Wargunnson
It really is a nice team you have got. The age combination is just brilliant aswell - 25,72 years of age in average (pre-transfer). I wish I could have something similar and still be competitive.
SotD
I can only second what SotD says, really nice team with its spirit and much ahead of them.
Avin Wargunnson
Despite thwarting me in getting the British riders I want, this is still one of my favourite teams. Shame that it'll no longer be Diggle for Wiggle but I'm sure you can sign some crazy Eastern European whose name rhymes with Energy...
~ Badaling International ~ 4th Damiano Caruso ~ Tour of Qatar Stages ~ 3rd, 4th, 5th Jacopo Guarnieri & Luke Rowe ~ Tour of Qatar ~ 9th GC Adrian Malori ~ Chrono des Herbiers ~ 13th Adrian Malori
Tirreno Adriatico whilst not featuring on this season targeted race list, for the sponsors it is always important to perform on home grounds. With Malori targeting the first stage in a bid to relieve the pressure, and Ponzi being supported by some of the best Italian domestiques, we were looking for big results. We weren't disappointed!
~ Paris Nice ~ 27th GC Thomas Faiers ~ Volta Ciclista a Catalunya ~ 2nd Stage 2 Jacopo Guarnieri
Milan San Remo has often been a goal for the team, ever since the days of Bertagnolli and Nocentini, and with Ponzi's improvement in sprinting and accelerating off the wheel, it was a natural choice to have him lead here. Goal accomplished!
~ Milan San Remo ~ 4th Simone Ponzi ~ Goal Achieved
~ Omloop Het Nieuwsblad ~ 5th Luke Rowe ~ Rund um Köln ~ 12th Luke Rowe ~ Gent - Wevelgem ~ 2nd Luke Rowe ~ East Midlands Cicle Classic ~ 8th Adam Blythe ~ Vuelta al Pais Vasco ~ 1st Stage 2, 2nd Stage 1, 3rd Stage 5 Simone Ponzi ~ Vuelta al Pais Vasco ~ 5th GC, 1st Points Simone Ponzi
After unprecedented success in other classics so far in the season (and to continue afterwards) we were looking for a relatively safe top ten from Ronde van Vlaanderen. Being pipped for that final top ten placing was a major blow to the team, and especially Blythe who had been sharing leadership with Rowe up to this point. The pressure proved too great.
~ Ronde van Vlaanderen ~ 11th Adam Blythe ~ Goal Failed
~ Paris Roubaix ~ 7th Adam Blythe ~ Amstel Gold Race ~ 3rd Simone Ponzi ~ Fleche Wallone ~ 2nd Simone Ponzi ~ Liege Bastogne Liege ~ 4th Simone Ponzi ~ Tour de Romandie ~ 3rd Stage 4 Good Energy, 15th GC Paolo Scarponi
Our aim at the Giro d'Italia was simple, win. The points jersey seemed a good target at the start of the season, and after Ponzi's success in attaining the Tirreno and al Pais Vasco points win we were confident to continue that success at the grandest stage. Until Trofimov turned up. In a bid to ease the sponsor's disappointment a total of 6 stage wins meant this was our best Giro to date.
~ Tour of California ~ 2nd Stage 3 Luke Rowe ~ Vuelta a Espana ~ 4th Stage 3 Damiano Caruso, 5th Stage 9 Thomas Faiers ~ Vuelta a Espana ~ 19th GC Thomas Faiers, 23rd Teodoro Costagli ~ Strada Appia Antica ~ 6th Adam Blythe ~ Tour de Suisse ~ 15th GC Teodoro Costagli ~ Criterium du Dauphine Libere ~ 15th GC Thomas Faiers, 17th Paolo Scarponi ~ Classique du Grand-Duche ~ 2nd Simone Ponzi, 8th Damiano Caruso
The Tour de France needs no introduction, but we were motivated to introduce Guarnieri to the world's best sprinters, and he certainly left his impression after securing a stage win on stage 5. His Tour ended with a couple of days left, so in the years to come more work will be required on his endurance.
~ Tour de France ~ 1st Stage 5, 2nd Stage 3 & 4, 3rd Stage 7, 4th Stage 13 Jacopo Guarnieri ~ Tour de France ~ 3rd Stage 5 Luke Rowe ~ Tour de France ~ 24th GC Paolo Scarponi
~ Tour of Norway ~ 4th Stage 1 & 6, 5th Stage 2 & 5 Jacopo Guarnieri ~ Tour of Norway ~ 1st Stage 8 Matteo Rabottini ~ Tour of Norway ~ 6th GC Damiano Caruso ~ GP Moscow ~ 1st Luke Rowe ~ Vuelta a Colombia ~ 1st Stage 9 Paolo Scarponi
Edited by rjc_43 on 23-01-2015 20:33
With discontent running amok in the headquarters of the Pro Tour, as well as within the sponsorship department of Good Energy with regard to the certain invisibility of return on the investment in the team, the mechanics were recruited to filter through the results over the season and upload the details to the team's webpage.
They were eager to show off the successes of the team, and the depth of the squad, with wins coming from six different riders over the year, and top ten results from over half the squad (or so they say...)
Expectations for the season were fairly lowly, as the previous year had seen an apparent lack of results coming from the Grand Tours and Stage Races with mountains in them. With the addition of fast man Jacopo Guarnieri, suddenly those races could be more than just General Classification result hunting, but rather chances for more stage successes.
Simone Ponzi has been on absolute fire since the beginning of the year, taking Tirreno Adriatico against the odds and strongest Pro Tour puncheurs. Points jersey success in Italy and later in Spain at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco has confirmed his speed, but success in the Giro was a step too much to ask. Well, in terms of points. A total of three stage wins from the Italian team leader capped off a dominant team performance, taking six in total, and coming close in a further two.
Nice to see an update on what's a great season for the team. Impressive amount of stage-wins plus some pretty outstanding results from Ponzi and solid GCs from less strong riders. Really like your team, so congrats on this season so far
Looking back into the not too distant past, we can analyse what went right, and ultimately what went wrong, for the teams goals for the season.
Our first goal was to get a Top Ten in Milan San Remo. Quite a doable expectation with Simone Ponzi's fast legs and his exceptional ability on the climbs. Here's how the race panned out for Good Energy.
Top Ten in Milan San Remo
With the emergence of Simone Ponzi as a fast finishing puncheur, and the depth of classics squad that can support him throughout the longest one day event, a Top Ten in this monument of cycling on Italian soil is a must.
Although the day dawned sunny and warm for the riders, and as the first attacks and ultimately the break of the day formed, the conditions weren't always going to stay the same.
Rival Italian Oscar Gatto was the first to crash as the rain started to fall, and although we attempted to warn our riders of the risk, it wasn't always paid attention to.
Marcello Pavarin, one of the strong supporters of Simone and with a good kick himself, crashed on the descent of Le Manie. With the speedy service from the team he was back on the bike and chasing to catch up.
As Pavarin rejoins the peloton and finds his way back to Ponzi's side, Simone gave the nod to lieutenant Damiano Caruso to take his chance - at the very least it would weaken the rival's chances of success. Caruso never needs telling twice, and was the first rider to attack with just 40km remaining.
After 10km of solo riding, Caruso was to be reeled back in, but not without tearing the peloton apart. The rest of the team were still very attentive near the front.
With a weakened peloton from the chase to bring Caruso back, no rider was able to attack on the Cipressa, and it took until the Poggio for Ricco, the eventual winner on the day, to attack.
With Ponzi sat in a very good postion entering the descent, we were happy to play the waiting game. Gambling on the better sprinters to bring Ricco back - or at least set up some sprint trains.
And as those sprint trains are set up, racing for 2nd place, Ponzi forces his way onto Boonen's wheel. Who is himself following Ben Swift. Perfect placing.
With a single kilometre left, Ponzi makes his move from Boonen's wheel (clearly suffering from the climb) into Van Garderen's slipstream.
Unfortunately, the road seems blocked for Simone's advances, and try as he might, he gets boxed in behind Van Garderen.
With World Champion blocking the road, and Gilbert blocking the open road, Ponzi had to settle for 4th on the day.
As a team we often have to be left wondering what could have been with a better lead out, or if Simone had opened his sprint earlier. As bittersweet as the result was - to be so close to the podium - we can take away the feeling of having successfully completed what the sponsors asked from us, a Top Ten in Milan San Remo.
In a distant past, long before many current Directeur Sportifs were functioning in the Pro, Pro Conti or Continental Tours, a new team Manager/Directeur Sportif was brought into the delightful world of the PCM Daily Man Game.
The 2008 season had just ended, and the existing manager fled the scene, claiming his family needed his time more (wild allegations of tax evasion and SotD dodging were also thrown about as likely reasons for abandoning the team). With the 2009 season close to kicking off, managers were eagerly sought out. A single post was all it took to clinch the management role (a far removed joining process to the one that exists today!), and with little under the belt in terms of experience, or any knowledge as to the role needed to be played, the transfer season kicked off.
The very first transaction that took place was with 2008 Continental Tour Champions (there being only two divisions back then), Tinkoff. No, not the Tinkoff currently running under the rule of oligarch OlegTinkov, but rather the team now named Wikipedia, run by Dave92. A rather shrewd manager, even then, he quickly found a trade to favour himself well:
Juan Manuel Garate ---> Wiggle - Premier Inn Mikel Astarloza ---> Wiggle - Premier Inn Aleksandr Usov ---> Wiggle - Premier Inn
Leif Hoste ---> Wikipedia Ben Hermans ---> Wikipedia [loan] Kevin Ista ---> Wikipedia [loan]
Rather than attempting to build off the backbone of the Wiesenhof team (which is the team Wiggle - Premier Inn came from) and use some strong sprint and classics based riders, the first move dave92 conned me in to was to swap my strongest rider for three aging second tier superstars.
In an attempt to bribe/form long lasting relationships with other managers (or in otherwords, complete idiocy), I also loaned out Ista and Hermans for near-free to Wikipedia - paying nearly all the wage for the priviledge of those two racing in Pro Tour (I think I might have thought experience would cause them to continue progressing stat-wise, but that wasn't going to be the case with both riders maxed out).
Later that relationship would bare fruit, with Marcello Pavarin being developed by Wikipedia before being sold to Wiggle the year after Ponzi and Caruso joined the team.
Other transfers from the team included the buy out (via an exceptionally annoying and pointless release clause) of Danilo Wyss and Peter Velits who ended up in an inactive team. The non-renewal of Dutchman Jan Hopman, Brazilian Carlos Manarelli and Irish Timothy Cassidy.
Coming in to the squad were Simone Cadamura (pictured below in 3rd having led out team mate Radochla for the win), Leonardo Bertagnolli, Francesco Tizza, James McCallum, Luke and Matt Rowe, Rob Hayles, Russell Hampton, Steven Cummings and Tom Diggle (of Wiggle).
A late last-minute buy of Troels Vinter and Thomas Riber-Sellebjerg, and immediate loan out to Team B&O (again, purchasing favour for the future in terms of buying Ivan Rovny off the team) was the final transfer of the season (that I can remember).
As the team rolled into actual racing, the line up looked like:
Team Leaders: Mikel Astarloza Simone Cadamuro
Co - Leaders: David Blanco Aleksandr Usov
Lieutenents: Marcos Arriagada Juan Manuel Garate
Luxury Talents: Ronny Scholz Tom Stamsnijder
Domestiques: Kaisen Olivier Artur Gajek Stefan Radochla Francesco Tizza Leonardo Bertagnolli James McCallum Luke Rowe Matt Rowe Rob Hayles Russell Hampton Steven Cummings Tom Diggle Jose Azevedo Jure Golcer Matt Hayman
The team had already started taking on it's Italian flair, although it was very much focused on trying to get the most talented Brits in, though it must be noted that to buy Luke Rowe only cost 120,000 euros, a value far below what he would be bought for as a talented neo pro nowadays I'm sure. Leonardo Bertagnolli was the key to claiming Wildcards for Milan San Remo and Tirreno Adriatico, and such was started the managers fascination with both races. A season later would see the team compete in the Giro d'Italia as well, completing the aim of the team to perform at the highest level.
A variety of success met the team throughout the year, notably from Bertagnolli, Astarloza, Juan Manuel Garate and David Blanco, with rare glimpses of a golden career from Aleksandr Usov - more races and successes came from Radochla and Cadamuro than Usov, who flopped more often than raising his arms.
The team, under my control for it's first year, had done worse than the previous year, finishing 10th (compared to 8th), but it was the start of a long-term fascination with the game and the beginnings of a master plan that is still coming to fruition.
Totally agree with tsmoha here, it is just a fantastic piece of reading, more of these! And it totally reminds me my start in MG as well. Thank god I came in to MG as a replacement for another manager only after he became inactive just after the transfer window, thankfully to that I have not made many mistakes later I would have made otherwide. And I totally remember how a PM that I am interested to take on a team was enough in that time to get in!
Cool piece of history, very enjoyable read about one of my favourite teams in the game. Congrats to the stellar season so far and good luck for rest of it.
Atlantius wrote:
Good read in deed. Also always nice to get confirmation that I'm not the only one srewing up my first transfer season
Screwing up your first transfer season is the rule rather than the exception ;-) Iirc I got no riders from my first transfer season left.
Rjc, great read, if I get enough time on my hands I might do something of the same, I don't feel I've been in this game for that long to warrant it, but when I actually think about it it will be 5 years come May I've been playing this game for the same amount of time I've been together with my wife...
Simone Ponzi
Adam Blythe
Mikhail Ignatiev
Paolo Scarponi
Michael Schär
Jan Ghyselinck
Idan Sharpira
~ Badaling International ~ 4th Damiano Caruso
~ Tour of Qatar Stages ~ 3rd, 4th, 5th Jacopo Guarnieri & Luke Rowe
~ Chrono des Herbiers ~ 13th Adrian Malori
~ Volta Ciclista a Catalunya ~ 2nd Stage 2 Jacopo Guarnieri
~ Rund um Köln ~ 12th Luke Rowe
~ Amstel Gold Race ~ 3rd Simone Ponzi
~ Tour of California ~ 2nd Stage 3 Luke Rowe
~ Classique du Grand-Duche ~ 2nd Simone Ponzi, 8th Damiano Caruso
~ Tour of Norway ~ 4th Stage 1 & 6, 5th Stage 2 & 5 Jacopo Guarnieri
~ Vuelta a Colombia ~ 1st Stage 9 Paolo Scarponi
Aleksandr Usov ---> Wiggle - Premier Inn
Marcos Arriagada
Jose Azevedo
Jure Golcer
Matt Hayman
.
I've been playing this game for the same amount of time I've been together with my wife...
