Another round of MG renewals is done, and just like last season, Carlsberg have shaken up things up once again heading into their first PCT transfer season. With a team clearly in need of a rebuild, several moves were made that will change the very identity of the team.
As always, we start off with retirements. The first is one that will be a great loss to the leadership of this team. Lasse Bøchman has decided to retire from the sport of cycling at the age of 34. A loyal domestique, the Dane has been with the team since its establishment in 2014, mentoring young riders and always serving as an on road captain, while occasionally stepping up for much needed results in the hills and time trials, especially during the otherwise bareen early days of the team, securing the Danish TT NC in 2014. We wish him the best of luck moving forward in whatever he pursues.
Also leaving the team is Fabio Sabatini. Fabio has been with team manager baseballlover312 since he rode for Miche in the Mini Man Game, and has played an integral role as a leadout man and sprinter for Carlsberg since its inception. With the team moving to PCT and Fabio moving up in age, he expressed to us that he would rather remain in the CT division or retire from the sport. We wish him luck in his future, whatever he ends up deciding.
We would also like to give a shout out to Søren Kragh Andersen, who after spending a year with us, will return to Grieg - Eftel per the agreements of his loan. We wish him further success in his development.
This unfortunately does not exhaust the list of riders who have decided not to renew with us this coming season. Those others are listed below:
Ludvig Lundberg Andreas Landa Max Öste-Macdonald Rasmus Mygind Filip Bengtsson
For a variety of reasons, these riders have not renewed with Carlsberg for the next season. Some of them have had to be let go, while others *cough*Lundberg*cough* have vastly overestimated the value they will garner on the open market. As you can see, we currently have much less mountain support than we will require. It is not impossible that we will still see these riders in a Carlsberg jersey come January, if we can come to an agreement with their agents on said open market. We wish some of them more luck than others...
The remaining riders have all decided to resign. We were very thankful for several riders, namely long time team members Niki Østergaard , Marc De Maar, and Alex Rasmussen for taking pay cuts in order to remain contributing to the team at the next level. We were also very excited that legend Tom Boonen was willing to renew with the team for one more season, putting off retirement once again. His road experience is completely unparalleled by anyone in the cycling world, let alone the PCT division.
Besides several small raises being awarded among riders, Marc Christian Garby gets a bump to $145,000, still far below what other riders of his caliber have asked for. He hopes to improve on last season in whatever role he is given.
All that being said and done, 14 riders are currently signed up for the 2017 season. You can see their statistics and wages down below.
Much to the delight of team manager baseballlover312, only one current rider is in need of a loan this year, Asbjørn Kragh Andersen, who would greatly benefit from a season racing in the PT. He is an excellent sprinter who could help any top leadout train, and he's ready for anyone willing to trade for his services.
In addition, all current riders may be discussed for transfer, although long time team members and leaders may be harder to obtain. One rider in particular, is up for transfer this offseason. Mitch Docker led us in the sprints last year, and suits much better to leading in the sprints of CT than in PCT. He agrees, and has requested a trade. He is a great sprinter with a great ability to get over mountains and hills, so contact us if you have any inquires once the transfer window begins.
This leaves the team with $1,623,000 in wage cap available before the transfer period to work with and build a PCT level team that can compete for years to come. The whole organization is excited to get underway. Soon, HC choices and goals will also be released, so stay tuned!
Carlsberg - Danske Bank Official Press Release, via Sporting News
We would also like to give a shout out to Søren Kragh Andersen, who after spending a year with us, will return to Grieg - Eftel per the agreements of his loan. We wish him further success in his development.
And we certainly would like to thank you for taking him on loan! A small squad and a lot of wage cap free for the transfer season, you look set for getting a good PCT team. Best of luck in the upcoming transfer season, I'm sure our paths will cross once again!
We would also like to give a shout out to Søren Kragh Andersen, who after spending a year with us, will return to Grieg - Eftel per the agreements of his loan. We wish him further success in his development.
And we certainly would like to thank you for taking him on loan! A small squad and a lot of wage cap free for the transfer season, you look set for getting a good PCT team. Best of luck in the upcoming transfer season, I'm sure our paths will cross once again!
Indeed, I'm sure they will as always!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Carlsberg have never been sellers during the MG transfer season. In fact, with three full seasons already in the teams history, they have yet to officially sell a rider to another team. Some of that lies on team manager baseballlover312 trying to keep the team core together, while some of it surely is also due to the fact that for some time, the Danish squad had few riders of relative value.
That may change this season, however. For the first time, reporters here at Sporting News have been given access to an exclusive list giving some intrigue into who might be moving on from Carlsberg this season. Overall, Carlsberg still don't look to be big sellers, especially as they need more riders to compete in a new division, but it seems their selling virginity might still be lost.
First Name
Last Name
Availability*
Marc Christian
Garby
Unlikely
Mitch
Docker
Yes
Asbjørn
Kragh Andersen
No
André
Steensen
Maybe
Jesper
Hansen
Unlikely
Christian
Ranneries
Unlikely
Niki
Østergaard
No
David
Veilleux
Likely
Marc
De Maar
No
Wei Cheng
Lee
Likely
Alex
Rasmussen
No
Tom
Boonen
Maybe
John Kronborg
Ebsen
Unlikely
Martin
Schoffmann
Unlikely
*Let it be known that according to the statement, this column predicts the likelihood of a rider being available, not the probability of actually being sold.
When asked about the opposite circumstance of who the team will be targeting this transfer season, baseballlover312 refused to state any specific names, preferring to keep his cards close to his chest. He did however, issue a broader statement:
"We find ourselves in an entirely new situation here than we have been in any prior offseason. Even with likely at least half a proper roster's worth of riders, we still have more wage cap space left available than we ever had in total in the CT division. So, of course, we are open to many different possibilities going forward in regard to the composition of our team. I will say that our promotion will not influence a decline in our team's image. We will continue to pursue the types of riders we have always valued. We will of course look to find riders from Denmark and to a lesser extent other Scandinavian countries when available. In addition, cobbled classics and riders with a knack for breakaways will still be target areas for us, as those are disciplines we've always valued. We have a few riders in mind, but as I've said, we won't reveal them at this time. Both free agency and transfers should have a lot to offer."
The transfer season opens tomorrow for all teams in all divisions. Get ready for the frenzy! We will no doubt be tracking Carlsberg - Danske Bank very closely moving forward.
Mr. Pickles
Sporting News
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
With the transfer season officially ending this past week, Carlsberg - Danske Bank officially confirmed their roster for the upcoming season. Team Manager baseballlover312 spoke to us about the team's transfer season.
"This transfer season was a whirlwind, I think it is safe to say that we greatly underestimated how fast the rebuild would have to take place, and in doing so, we missed out on all of the high stakes bidding, while leaders quickly signed big money deals with other teams. I'll admit we didn't have much of a budget to work with going in, but that's no excuse. Our failure to attract big talent this transfer season is my fault and my fault alone. In the end, our constant waiting and passive behavior made it so that we filled our roster with far too many riders on low salary. I can only hope at this point that our depth will give us a chance to score. I've already taken some risk with planning our schedule to at least give us a shot. Otherwise, it seems we may be right back on the shuttle to CT, and once our sponsors here that, I don't know what will be left of the team. We did make some new additions, but I don't have time to speak about specifics at the moment. Maybe later. I need a cold one from the sponsors to put me to sleep tonight first...
Pessimism won't encourage the team, however, and so baseballlover312 added one line before leaving, stating, "Anything is possible. I know that, the fans know that, and every man on this team needs to know that if they need a contract for next season."
The full Carlsberg - Danske Bank 2017 roster can be seen below:
We expect a more in depth press conference on the specific signings and trades of Carlsberg in the coming days, once the manager and staff stop crying in the team bus.
Mr. Pickles
Sporting News
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Despite maybe not signing the strongest riders I still like your team, with two Danish leaders and a legend in Contador. I hope you will manage to steer this away from relegation
I still think you'll avoid relegation, Juul-Jensen will overperform with his ACC, Nolf is up thereabouts with the best cobblists, Garby and Contador will make a great combo if planned well and Appolionio is a decent sprinter + with Bertillsen and Ranneries who will make a great lead-out.
You don't have any top leaders but you have men for every terrain, enough imo to stay up with a little luck.
Marcovdw wrote:
Despite maybe not signing the strongest riders I still like your team, with two Danish leaders and a legend in Contador. I hope you will manage to steer this away from relegation
I hope so too! Thanks for the support. I never seem to be able to help myself from signing older legends, as much as I try too. Just something special about having one of them on your team.
trekbmc wrote:
I still think you'll avoid relegation, Juul-Jensen will overperform with his ACC, Nolf is up thereabouts with the best cobblists, Garby and Contador will make a great combo if planned well and Appolionio is a decent sprinter + with Bertillsen and Ranneries who will make a great lead-out.
You don't have any top leaders but you have men for every terrain, enough imo to stay up with a little luck.
That's all I can hope for at this point. I can confirm that Garby and Contador will have a lot of the same schedule out of necessity, with a couple of very key differences. I like Appo a lot, but with the sprint inflation, not sure how much he can actually score. As you said though, I'm glad I have men for every terrain in some way. it makes it more interesting to watch at the very least.
Tamijo wrote:
Living in Copenhagen, just have to follow and hope for a good result for the Danes.
Thanks for the support! I think it's funny how there are so many Danes/Scandinavians in general in the MG and Daily, and yet I, the American, have the only Danish team currently. I find it way more fun that way to be honest.
Atlantius wrote:
I don't think it looks as bad as you say. Appolonio could grab a lot of points and your cobbles squad looks nice as well.
While Juul-Jensen surely isn't among the divisions top punchers he could very well be one that performs better than his hill stat suggest.
Cobbles is our main focus, but even then there are quite a few in PCT above Nolf. Gotta hope for attacking and depth points there.
Certainly looking at Juul-Jensen's profile, there was a De Maar aspect about his acceleration that made me hope he will attack a ton. Again, most of that is based on luck, but that's all I hope for.
More to come on key signing in the next days
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Although not featuring an overall headline team leader, Carlsberg Danske Bank look to have gathered together a well-rounded squad that can feature on all terrains. This versatility is probably the most striking aspect of the squad, with a host of riders like Juul Jensen, Contador, Garby, Nolf and Appollonio all good choices to keep the points ticking over throughout the season. Yes, Carlsberg has a long 'tail' to the squad having kept faith with a number of their Danish and other veteran riders who helped them promote to the PCT. Sending some of these guys out to pasture and bringing through the next generation will help the future development of the squad; good work already started in part with a number of young riders on board and farmed out on loan.
We send best wishes to our good buddys at Carlsberg for the 2017 season, and have belief that although there is a potential to flirt with relegation during the season, the squad depth should be strong enough to pull through and ensure further steps towards improvement can be achieved with a 2nd PCT season in 2018.
Scorchio wrote:
Although not featuring an overall headline team leader, Carlsberg Danske Bank look to have gathered together a well-rounded squad that can feature on all terrains. This versatility is probably the most striking aspect of the squad, with a host of riders like Juul Jensen, Contador, Garby, Nolf and Appollonio all good choices to keep the points ticking over throughout the season. Yes, Carlsberg has a long 'tail' to the squad having kept faith with a number of their Danish and other veteran riders who helped them promote to the PCT. Sending some of these guys out to pasture and bringing through the next generation will help the future development of the squad; good work already started in part with a number of young riders on board and farmed out on loan.
We send best wishes to our good buddys at Carlsberg for the 2017 season, and have belief that although there is a potential to flirt with relegation during the season, the squad depth should be strong enough to pull through and ensure further steps towards improvement can be achieved with a 2nd PCT season in 2018.
We certainly hope your predictions are correct! All the best to WCC for the coming season. Don't let Asgreen have too much fun!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Ian Butler wrote:
I really like this squad. No overpowering riders, but rather a very strong core, depth and plenty of possibilites.
You should score in every race
I suppose we better score in every race if we can't score big in any of them. That's the only way!
RIP Exxon Duke, David Veilleux, Double Feature, and Monster Energy
Pieter
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Joel
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Marc De Maar, and 
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