With contract renewals still ongoing the media may have gotten hold of a very global transfer plan of the VisitUkraine p/b Nemiroff team. No names were mentioned in this plan however media have made some very basic, but potentially logical conclusions.

Most striking was the strategy of bringing in a new, foreign GC rider who would be top class for the division, but relatively cheap in order to allow the team to grow in other areas as well. With Nepomnyachniy, Krasnoperov and Topchanyuk all on board pre-renewals this new leader is not likely to be a TT-monster according to various people as Nepomnyachniy fills that gap, but more of a pure climber instead. In addition to that we expect this 'new leader' to be a bit more punchy than Krasnoperov who failed a lot due to his bad acceleration according to the team's director. Now finally if we add in the price aspect there's probably only 1 guy who could be the team's big target, and that would be the 33-year old Italian Riccardo Ricco.

Riccardo is known for his fighting spirit, and his current team, Festina, which may or may not be disbanding has hinted his departure several times already. There is no real doubt a rider like Ricco would be able to do well in the PCT, and he would probably be enough of an asset to keep up VisitUkraine for another year.

If this plan will be followed is not sure though, Riccardo would be a very short time investment given his age, and we've seen the team grabbing up talented riders in the past who have done fairly well too, like Oleksandr Prevar and perhaps the team has some other ideas that will be more valuable for the future of the team.

Not long after publishing an article about how Ricco would probably be VisitUkraine's main target to tackle GCs, some media have been investigating things a little bit more, and they came to the conclusion GCs are not always won in the mountains, there are other terrains to win on as well.

With this knowledge the media have pulled a quick scan through the world of pro cycling again to find a potential winner on other terrains, most likely hilly terrains where Prevar already has a dominant role, but where some strength in time trials seems to be lacking if you should consider Nepomnyachsniy not much much of a hill specialist.

Keeping the same restrictions as with the Ricco investigation media have pointed out 31 year-old Russian Mikhail Ignatiev from the Metinvest team could well be a great asset for VisitUkraine in stage races where not only hills are present, but where riders also have to face a race against the chrono. Ignatiev is well known for his aggressive style of riding, and his abilities against the clock. There's a reason why he's been both the Russian RR and TT champion in the past, and he would possibly slot well into the current team's setup.

Once again the VisitUkraine management stresses they will not give any information on whether or not Ricco and Ignatiev are really some hot targets or just a massive speculation, however they also seem to not deny anything straight away.

With renewals done we're glad to announce our team looks less obese right now! We fired 11 riders to keep a total of 18 going into the transfer madness, with quite some cap to play with.

Our Pre-Transfers Team looks like this:



This means we've fired Mikayil Krasnoperov, who did not agree on a much lower wage and he basically stormed out of my office within a few seconds, the Efimkin brothers who are simply too old, and the same goes for legends Jaroslav Popovych and Andrei Kashechkin. Also the hottest thing on wheels has not convinced me enough to stay, he'd need a PT loan and I doubt he could get that, and this same applies to Kyriakos Skettos. Oleksandr Lobov has not shown enough potential to stay at the team, as has Denis Vorontsov. Despite being a fan favourite Iman Suparman has been sent back to Indonesia due this high age, and we sadly could not meet Tomas Vaitkus' demands.

That said, from the team we now have not everyone will stay. Oleksandr Golovash and Mikhail Kochetkov will be looking for PT loans, and both should be fairly valuable as well for TTT setups.

Other riders may all go depending on offers, but it's highly unlikely anyone will actually get sold.

As comes with a new season we had to pick new goals. Looking back at last year we had a few very good races, and a lot of bad ones, so for the goals we obviously decided to focus on the best races from last year. Coming to close to a win in Portgual last year, this year we want to win the Volta a Portugal. We had 2 stage wins there, and Nepomnyachsniy was very strong in that field. Additionally we did quite well at a certain classic with Oleksandr Prevar getting the win, this year we aim for a Top 5 at the Classica San Sebastian. Being our home race, we always are expected to deliver something, and last year was no different with Nepomnyachsniy riding a good a TT and securing a good GC as well. This year our goal is to get a Top 5 in the GC of the Tour of Ukraine. The final race goal is a bit of a gamble. We did well in the race, but winning stages has not been our strong point there. Lacking a proper lead-out or an amzing climber we also had limited chances. This year we will fully focus on getting Stage wins in the Tour of America. Finally, our rankings goal may be a bit ambitious, but we are sure we can improve, and then a Top 15 in the PCT Team Standings should be possible!

Il Piccolo Principe, 6 times Giro, and 1 time Tour de France winner Damiano Cunego has been the team's first, and possibly largest signing. The Italian is currently projected to be the most expensive rider ever to ride for the Ukrainian team with a wage of 600.000. His history is worth that alone, but even now he's getting older he still is an amzing leader on the level we race at. In any mountainous races where a TT is missing for Nepomnyachsniy to make time on, Cunego will be a great team captain, and we're very happy we landed a big fish, despite the fact the league may be filled with similar, maybe even better rider.

Ukraine's new best talent is a sprinter, Roman Lutsyshyn. His skills are from the track, and he's already a very fast guy in a sprint. Main problem for now is getting him to a sprint first, but give him a few years, he'll be up there with the best!

From Madagascar a new stage race talent emerges in the form of Zouzou Andriafenomananiaina. His name may be difficult, but you better get used to it as this guy is surely Madagascar's greatest talent. He can climb long climbs, short steep climbs and he can hold himself against the clock. Just like Roman he'll need a few year to gain experiece, but he should be a very valuable domestique after those years!