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Magna - Ryanair | 2014 [PCT]
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 18:42
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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  Magna Internationalis a global automotive supplier headquartered in Canada, with a significant presence in Austria with its headquarters in Graz. Magna supplies parts to General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and Chrysler in North America and in Europe holds the contract for the assemblage of the Peugeot RCZ and Mini Countryman. Magna has approximately 125,000 employees in 316 manufacturing operations and 84 product development, engineering and sales centres in 29 countries. Magna operates under a corporate constitution which calls for distribution of profits to employees and shareholders.
Magna International is helmed by Frank Stronach, an Austro-Canadian businessman. Mr. Stronach is famed for his interest in racing and has been pleased with the successes of the Magna brand in cycling.
 Ryanair is a discount airline that is based in Ireland. Founded in 1985, the company has experienced rapid growth and now operates a fleet of nearly 300 planes. Starting from humble beginnings, Ryanair now is arguably the leading European discount airline. A strong proponent of Irish tourism, Ryanair's entry into the world of cycling is said to be to promote Irish born riders as well as promote the various destinations that can be traveled to via Ryanair. Considering Ryanair's more controversial advertising this co-sponsorship of a cycling team can be seen as a direction from senior management to take a more 'conventional' advertising stance.
Ryanair is pleased by the success of the team so far and has signed up for a second season in support of the team.
Minor Sponsors
Cervelo - Bike Manufacturer
 Giro - Helmet Manufacturer
Vision - Wheel Manufacturer
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 18:42
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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2014 Jersey and Equipment
With thanks to the amazing Cavendish-fan, we can present our jersey and equipment for the upcoming season.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 18:43
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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2013 Roster
Thomas Rohregger
 Carl Naibo
 Perkiles Ilias
Isaac Speirs
 Manuel Belletti
Markus Eibegger
Alexander Schrangl
Antoine Matteau
Andreas Graf
Paidi O'Brien
Andreas Hofer
Daniel Paulus
Marco Haller
2014 Roster
Dario Cataldo
 Jukka Vastaranta
Thomas Rohregger
Julien Simon
 Serge Pauwels
Carl Naibo
Markus Eibegger
Mathieu Drujon
Ronan Racault
 Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn (On Loan from Siam Cement)
Isaac Speirs
Alexander Schrangl
Perikles Ilias
 Pavel Kochetkov
Ryder Hesjedal
Manuel Belletti
Dominik Hrinkow
Andreas Hofer
 Basilio Ramos Ticona
Daniel Schorn (On Loan from Volkswagen)
Daniel Paulus
Andreas Graf
Marco Haller (On Loan at Fletcher-Garneau)
Lukas Postlberger (On Loan at Siam Cement)
Matthias Krizek (On Loan at Volkswagen)
Edited by Firefly21 on 23-03-2014 16:34
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 18:44
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Goals and Calender
Season Goals
This will be a consolidation year for Magna-Ryanair as we hope to maintain our place in the 2nd division of cycling. Thus, our goals are not very ambitious, and we hope we can achieve at least a few of them.
Win  Sibiu Tour
With a lack of Austrian and Irish races to compete in we must search elsewhere for our goals. The Sibiu Tour is an interesting race, as it does not have the highest profile and thus it might not attract the biggest startlist. A mountain goat with a good time trial skill likely take the title in Romania
Top 5 Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt
Our home race has a slightly less ambitious goal of only getting a top 5, but make no mistake, we will send a strong team to this race. A race that has many conflicts within the calender we hope that the competition will be divided that will hopefully allow us to succeed. Again, a mountain goat that can time-trial will probably succeed in this race.
Top 5 Zagreb - Ljubljana
Why are we here? I'm not exactly sure, though at least Slovenia is nearby to Austria. No one on our current roster has a snowballs chance in hell of completing this task, so a puncheur must be brought in to have any hope of achieving this goal
Top 10  Tour of Beijing
China? Why not. Top 10 should be achieveable if we can sign a decent hilly rider.
Uh, sure. Maybe we can finish top 15 in the standings.
Calender
| Date | Name | Classification | | Jan-10 |  Down Under Classic | HC | | Jan 14 - 19 | Tour Down Under | C1 | | Feb 3-9 |  Tour of South Africa | HC | | Feb 8-13 |  Tour of Oman | HC | | Mar-08 |  Scandinavia Open Road Race | C1 | | Mar 20-25 | Tour de Beuace | C2 | | Mar 21-24 | Giro del Trentino | C1 | | Mar 28-30 | Corsica International | HC | | Apr 1-7 | Tour of Taiwan | C1 | | Apr 5-11 | Tour of Vancouver | HC | | Apr-08 | Amstel Gold Race | PT | | Apr 19-25 |  Tropicale Amissa Bongo | C1 | | Apr-21 | Interlagos GP | HC | | Apr-21 | Dutch Food Valley Classic | HC | | May 2-7 |  Tour of Japan | C1 | | May 15-19 | Sibiu Tour | C1 | | May-31 |  GP Onda-Boavista | C1 | | Jun 1-4 | Tour des Pays de Savoie | C1 | | Jun 11-16 |  Tour of Bulgaria | C1 | | Jun 22-24 | Oberosterreichrundfahrt | C2 | | Jun 23-26 | Ster ZLM Tour | C1 | | Jun 26-30 |  Tour of Andorra | HC | | Jun-28 |  Classique du Grand-Duché | PT | | Jul-07 |  Manx International | HC | | Jul 13-19 | USA Pro Cycling Challenge | HC | | Jul 15-20 |  Tour of Southland | C1 | | Jul 23-27 |  Post Danmark Rundt | HC | | Jul-24 |  Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola | HC | | Aug-01 | Clasica San Sebastian | HC | | Aug 1-8 | Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt | HC | | Aug 5-15 | Volta a Portugal | HC | | Aug 14-18 |  Baltic Chain Tour | HC | | Aug 20-29 | Tour de l'Avenir | U23 | | Aug-31 | GP Plouay | C1 | | Sept 2-22 | Tour of America | C1 | | Sep-12 |  Zagreb - Ljubljana | C1 | | Sep-20 | Grand Prix de Quebec | C1 | | Oct-06 |  Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha | PT | | Oct 16-20 | Tour of Beijing | HC |
Edited by Firefly21 on 03-04-2014 19:43
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 18:44
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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While these are hardly finalized at this point. These are the status of our riders as we go into renewals.
Young, Untochable Prospects
Marco Haller
Daniel Paulus
Andreas Hofer
These riders make up our future core and it is extremely unlikely they will depart the team, for anything short of an absolutely staggering offer.
Solid Domestiques that are unlikely to leave
Markus Eibegger
Alexander Schrangl
Andreas Graf
Dominik Hrinkow
Antoine Matteau
While Eibegger had a great year in the CTour, picking up some unexpected results, these riders will make up the workers for our leaders. Any of them could leave, but unless their contract demands are outrageously high or there is a huge offer for one of them, they are unlikely to leave.
Rider that Our Sponsor Wants Us to Keep
Paidi O'Brien
Winning the Irish National championship has moved Paidi from 'Decent domestique' to 'Useful commodity to our sponsor.' O'Brien is nothing more that decent, but his status as national champ make him valuable.
Sprint Team leaders turned lead out men?
Manuel Belletti
Isaac Speirs
The Sprint team at Magna-Ryanair was never supposed to be earth shatteringly good, and it mostly wasn't, though both Belletti and Speirs had their moments. Magna is looking for a sprinter in the transfer period and potentially Belletti and Speirs could form an interesting sprint train for a sprinting star. However both could be sold as well. Their status is up in the air
The Interesting Case of the Greek Puncheur
Perikles Ilias
Perikles Ilias was a solid but not amazing scorer for Magna-Ryanair, but he was generally fun to watch, even if he was launching failed attacks. He is nothing more than a hilly helper or a stage hunter in the PCT, thus he will be renewed. Though if a CT team would be interested in purchasing him for a reasonable fee, he could be back in the CTour, a level where he could be a good, but not great leader.
Austrian Superstar Won't be Leaving
Thomas Rohregger
He's not leaving. He's Magna-Ryanair's talisman and certainly a solid 2nd in command in Mountain races.
I don't know, Naibo?
Carl Naibo
While Naibo was abject in actually scoring points for the team, the promotion to the PCT means that Naibo would only be a super-domestique for the team. Certainly if a team came in with a fair offer, he could leave the team, but we aren't actively looking to sell him.
Incoming to Magna Ryanair?
Management has a long shortlist that they are keeping secretive. It is confirmed that the team is looking at acquiring Daniel Schorn and Antoine Duchesne to increase the depth of the squad. Otherwise the team is expected to pursue a Stage Race leader, a hilly leader and a #1 sprinter to lead the team in the PCT
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| Ad Bot |
Posted on 22-12-2024 16:00
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 03-03-2014 19:06
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3224
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 400.00
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Duchesne would only go on loan no chance of a permanent deal but a loan to your team could be beneficial as with some of our other talents but we shall see in the window |
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| Roman |
Posted on 03-03-2014 20:54
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Grand Tour Specialist
Posts: 4386
Joined: 29-05-2007
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It's great to see Rohregger became even a talisman of your team! I wish your team a good luck for the coming season, I really like your team. Oh and big thanks for taking care of my loanees Petr Vakoc and Michal Kolar. Both of them will become really good riders in my team and both of them will remember the season in your team as water carriers for sure. 
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 07-03-2014 20:34
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
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Contract Renewals Go Well for Magna
Vienna, Austria
Throughout the day, the riders and their agents one by one came and went from the Magna-Ryanair headquarters. While details were scarce, reports from an anonymous insider indicated that all riders were retained for the upcoming season. The rider that seemed to be in the best mood after leaving Magna headquarters was Markus Eibegger, who looked to profit after having a successful season in the Continental Tour.
Very few rumors about transfer targets have emerged from the Magna-Ryanair camp. When asked about the upcoming transfer season, manager Firefly21 had this to say
"We have a long shortlist of riders that we are interested in, but it would be foolhardy at this point to acknowledge our interest in them. While it would be great to sign riders like Kohl or Denifl or even Dan Martin, we must admit that they are out of our price range. We must be pragmatic in this transfer period. There are a lot of teams that will be looking to spend money, we must find value where it is and not get caught up in the hysteria and overbidding on some riders. I don't care if our leaders are from Africa, America or the Moon, we are looking for riders that can keep us up in this division so we can continue to build on our success."
"As far as departures from our team, it is possible that either Carl Naibo or Perikles Ilias, but with the recent postings of the eligibility for C2 races, the team may look to retain Perikles so he can lead the team in interesting races for our sponsors like the Oberösterreichrundfahrt or the Selkin Classic, but we can make no firm statement at this point. We do encourage all managers to contact us during the transfer period if they feel like they can offer us an acceptable deal."
With transfer season soon approaching, the fans of Magna-Ryanair will have to wait with baited breath to see what new heroes they can cheer for in the upcoming season.
@Roman Thanks! Rohregger was great fun to have in the team, can't argue with the results I got from him. Vakoc and Kolar will be great riders for you one day, I think one of them won a KoM jersey in a race, I can't remember which race though
@jph See, this is what I get for terrible reading comprehension, I read 'will be available' and then assumed it was for transfer, but if I had read like a few words more I could have seen it was for loan. Whoops.
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| jt1109 |
Posted on 07-03-2014 21:09
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3224
Joined: 23-07-2008
PCM$: 400.00
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Plus you just called me Jph not Jt haha no worries firefly hope to do business with you on a different rider instead |
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 07-03-2014 21:18
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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jt1109 wrote:
Plus you just called me Jph not Jt haha no worries firefly hope to do business with you on a different rider instead
I am not a smart man.
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| Dippofix |
Posted on 08-03-2014 09:24
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Classics Specialist
Posts: 3912
Joined: 29-01-2013
PCM$: 300.00
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Hmm, i was really hoping Speirs would become a FA. 
And i don't think you'll be going to Seskin Hill, C2HC races are only for CT teams IIRC. 
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 08-03-2014 09:35
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Team Leader
Posts: 5534
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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C2HC races are definitely only for CT teams. So a bit unlucky there :/
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 09-03-2014 02:03
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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Dippofix wrote:
Hmm, i was really hoping Speirs would become a FA.
And i don't think you'll be going to Seskin Hill, C2HC races are only for CT teams IIRC.
...
Are you sure I can't just sneak some riders in? 
Of course I knew that C2HC races are CT only, but I forgot to check where the Seskin classic was rated.
Bit of an auspicious start to the season!
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| Luis Leon Sanchez |
Posted on 09-03-2014 02:10
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Team Leader
Posts: 5534
Joined: 12-06-2013
PCM$: 500.00
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Dont worry about it
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 12-03-2014 03:40
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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2014 Roster (Pre-Transfer Season)
| Country | Name | Wage | | Thomas Rohregger | 130,000 | | Markus Eibegger | 75,000 | | Perikles Ilias | 65,000 | | Carl Naibo | 60,000 | | Alexander Schrangl | 60,000 | | Manuel Belletti | 55,000 | | Issac Speirs | 50,000 | | Antoine Matteau | 50,000 | | Dominik Hrinkow | 50,000 | | Andreas Hofer | 50,000 | | Andreas Graf | 50,000 | | Paidi O'Brien | 50,000 | | Daniel Paulus | 50,000 | | Marco Haller | 50,000 |
Magna-Ryanair is 1.65 million under the PCT salary cap and can be expected to be active in the upcoming transfer season.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 17-03-2014 04:31
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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First Signings Arrive for Magna-Ryanair
While the transfer period continues to rage on, Magna-Ryanair has announced the signings of several riders.
Julien Simon, 29
Julien joins us from Project 1t4i for a fee of 500,000. He is a puncheur with an excellent final sprint. He will likely be the leader or co-leader for the team in hilly races.
Mathieu Drujon, 31
Mathieu joins us from team BPost for a fee of 300,000. He's a sprinter and while he isn't quite the quality of the other sprinters in the division, he has always been a rider capable of delivering solid results. He'll lead the sprint division for Magna-Ryanair.
Ryder Hesjdal, 34
Ryder is on the downside of his career, but is a personal favorite of the manager. Ryder will likely see action in Mountainous stage races and is looking forward to competing in the Tour of Vancouver for Magna-Ryanair.
Basilio Ramos Ticona, 25
Honorary Austrian, Basilio Ramos Ticona is a rider that we are excited to have at Magna-Ryanair. Already a reasonable time trialist with the ability to get over hills, he has a fair amount of potential that we can hopefully unlock.
Lukas Postlberger, 22
Lukas is an exciting young Austria prospect who is likely to become a strong time trial rider in the future. He joins Andreas Hofer, as some of Austria's best time trialists. We are excited to see them both grow into their potential.
Matthias Krizek, 26
Matthias is a good Austrian rider that we have already sent to our good friends at Volkswagen-Mapei to gain experience in the Pro Tour. We expect that he can become a good helper in years to come. In return for Krizek's services we have secured....
Daniel Schorn,26
Daniel is a young sprinter that we are potentially eyeing as a leadout rider for Marco Haller when he reaches his potential.
More signings are coming soon for Magna-Ryanair, including some of our more expensive free agent signings. Team officials are said to be pleased so far with the signings made and are hopefully that more leaders can be secured soon.
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 26-03-2014 16:56
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Domestique
Posts: 506
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Magna-Ryanair Receives 3 Pro Tour Wildcards
As word came down from the MGUCI today, Magna-Ryanair is supposed to be delighted by the news that they will race in 3 Pro Tour Classics, The Amstel Gold Race, The Classique du Grand-Duché and Praha - Karlovy Vary - Praha.
It is expected that new signings Jukka Vastaranta and Julien Simon will likely lead the team at these races, though Mathieu Drujon will likely fancy his chances at a potential bunch sprint in Prague. Overall there is not much hope for a great result, but we are hoping for attacking riding and perhaps the chance to ride in the breakaway of any of these races. A top 10 in any of those races would be a brilliant result, but we will settle for the experience of getting to rub shoulders with the biggest stars in professional cycling!
Edited by Firefly21 on 26-03-2014 16:56
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 03-04-2014 18:33
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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2014 Team Presentation, Part 1
Leaders
Dario Cataldo
Dario is the absolute leader of the team. We've brought him in from the disbanded Vespa-Aprilia team where he was often deployed as a secondary leader to Dominico Pozzovivo, yet here he will be asked to lead the team. Dario might not belong to the elite climbers of the division, nor does he have the best time trialing skill, so we don't think he's much of a threat to win many races, but he is certainly capable of good results, even in tough HC races.
Calendar
Tour of Oman (HC)
Giro del Trentino (HC)
Corsica International (HC)
Tour of Japan (C1)
Tour des Pays de Savoie (C1)
Tour of Bulgaria (C1)
Tour d'Andorra (HC)
Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola (HC)
Volta a Portugal (HC)
Thomas Rohregger
Thomas may be near the end of his prime, but as one of Austria's best riders, he is a key rider for us. Thomas is not as good a pure climber as Dario, but his ability to ride against the clock means that he's good in different races than Cataldo. Thomas will also rarely be deployed as a helper for Cataldo in a few races, though generally he will be the team leader.
Calendar
Giro del Trentino (C1)
Corsica International (HC)
Tour of Vancouver (HC)
Sibiu Tour (C1)
USA Pro Cycling Challenge (HC)
Urkiola Igoera - Subida Urkiola (HC)
Int. Osterreich Rundfahrt (HC)
Tour of America (C1)
Jukka Vastaranta
Jukka is a type of rider we've had success with at Magna-Ryanair. A puncheur with a very strong finishing kick, Jukka is a threat that other riders must always account for, lest he outsprint them at the finish. The winner of the 2012 Rund um Koln, Jukka brings a wealth of Pro Tour experience and will still get his chance in the Pro Tour this year through our 3 wildcards.
Calendar
Tour Down Under (C1)
Tour of South Africa (HC)
Scandinavian Open Race (C1)
Tour of Taiwan (C1)
 Tropicale Amissa Bongo (C1)
GP Onda-Boavista (C1)
Ster ZLM Tour (C1)
Manx International (HC)
Clasica San Sebastian (HC)
GP Plouay (C1)
 Zagreb - Ljubljana (C1)
GP Quebec (C1)
Tour of Beijing (HC)
Julien Simon
Julien is pretty much a carbon copy of Jukka Vastaranta and he was our big purchase of the transfer season, coming from Project 1t4i. Another rider that has Pro tour experience, Julien will get to lead the team in some races and have a free role in others. Often, he will be paired with Jukka Vastaranta in races we feel are a good fit for the riders with good hill riding skill and excellent final kicks. We hope that Julien can deliver us some wins this year
Calender
Tour Down Under (C1)
Tour of Oman (HC)
Tour of Taiwan (C1)
Tropicale Amissa Bongo (C1)
Tour of Japan (C1)
Manx International (HC)
Tour of Southland (C1)
Post Danmark Rundt (HC)
Clasica San Sebastian (HC)
Volta a Portugal (HC)
GP Plouay (C1)
Mathieu Drujon
Mathieu gets the pleasure of being the teams main sprinter this season. Aquired from Team Bpost, Mathieu is not exactly the most feared sprinter in the PCT, but that is okay as we are not really a sprinter team! We hope to use Mathieu in races that will feature less than deadly startlists. We are also going to avoid the pan flat classics that surely will attract the elite sprinters of the division.
Calender
Down Under Classic (HC)
Tour Down Under (C1)
Corsica International (HC)
Dutch Food Valley Classic (HC)
Tour of Bulgaria (C1)
Ster ZLM Tour (C1)
Tour of Southland (C1)
Post Danmark Rundt (HC)
Volta a Portugal (HC)
GP Plouay (C1)
Tour of America (C1)
Edited by Firefly21 on 07-04-2014 18:37
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| Firefly21 |
Posted on 10-04-2014 00:48
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Domestique
Posts: 506
Joined: 15-09-2012
PCM$: 200.00
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January Preview
Down Under Classic (HC)
Squad:
Mathieu Drujon (Leader)
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn
Isaac Speirs
Manuel Belletti
Andreas Hofer
Basilio Ramos Ticona
Daniel Schorn
Daniel Paulus
Objective: This is...not a race that suits us in the slightest. Drujon is our top sprinter and we feel we have to give him a chance (because maybe 25 of the other sprinters will crash so that Drujon can be top 5!). Any points coming out of this race would be spectacular
Tour Down Under
Squad:
Jukka Vastaranta (Leader)
Julien Simon (Co-Leader)
Mathieu Drujon (Sprinter)
Markus Eibegger
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn
Perikles Ilias
Pavel Kotchekov
Objective:
We feel that the rolling parcours of Austrailia is a nice fit for Jukka Vastaranta and Julien Simon, who will be looking to use their strong finishing kick to hopefully sprint from a select group. Mathieu Drujon is also here mostly because he is not all that troubled on the small climbs that dot even the 'flat' stages. It's a very strong team from us, but with a filled up list of entrants it may be tough to get a good result - nevertheless we can hope a reasonably good GC from Vastaranta.
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| cio93 |
Posted on 10-04-2014 00:54
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World Champion
Posts: 10845
Joined: 29-10-2007
PCM$: 500.00
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I still have to get used not looking for Demare in your lineups 
I'm looking forward to watch a potential Vastaranta-McEvoy fight in TDU from the outside, wondering what fielding Drujon and Davis will do to their sprint stage efforts and thus GC ambitions.
Rothaus last season showed that it can sometimes severely harm your chances, but let's hope the PCM13 AI gained some common sense.
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